


I Thought I Didn't Know You

by TehKirby



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Cliche, F/M, POV Second Person, Psychological Drama, Reader-Insert, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 04:43:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 79,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10429353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TehKirby/pseuds/TehKirby
Summary: A job relocation for your father lands you living in Domino. You're certain everything will just be the same -- your father endlessly working and never paying attention to you. But what happens when you end up meeting an intriguing high-schooler through your new hobby of Duel Monsters?Warning is for some violence in later chapters. Blood and injuries, as well as potentially disturbing thoughts at the end from the You character.





	1. Your Fateful Day in Domino

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old story I finished back in 2004, right before I went to college. It's a little cliche, but it seemed to be liked enough. I am posting this as-is and I don't plan to edit it like "Points of Authority," thus, the huge chapter upload amount.

**********

 **Chapter 1:** _Your Fateful Day in Domino_

**********

You were musing to yourself as you walked down the street. You sighed in reluctance, as you went over just how the hell you got to this new place called Domino.

You had arrived in the city a few days ago, your father paying some moving company to get your belongings into the condo he bought. You never knew why he bought such extravagant things if he was never going to be there with you.

Your father was a "workaholic" of sorts; you had the feeling he worked 25-hour days to keep his mind off of your mother... But geeze! She died when you were born! Well, at least you thought so; you had heard so many different stories as to how she died from your relatives...

In any case, you were now stuck here because your father had excepted some sort of business proposal at his job, God only knew _what_ he did, and it gave him a "very cushy promotion that would help out alot" he told you. It was crap, and you hated moving, especially after your father told you that he would never make you go through the moving process again when you started middle school! You had moved way too many times in your life, and you had always wanted a stable home to go back to! But here you were again, in a different place, having to start all over...

Hmph. Well, maybe you didn't want to start over!

And yes, you had a purse; a simple, small black one with a long armstrap that was over your shoulder right now. Casually, you lifted the button-securer and took out your deck of Dueling Monster cards, and took out your favorite card: Princess of Tsurugi. You had two in your deck you liked it so much. Princess of Tsurugi was your favorite because of what it could do: it was a warrior/effect card, first of all. If flip-summoned then it inflicted 500 points of Direct Damage to your opponent's Life Points for each Magic and Trap card your opponent had on the field.

Actually, in away, it was kind of like you! It was by no means a very powerful monster, but the effect was long-lasting and could potentially do a lot of damage.

And your deck was the same way; it didn't have a lot of those high-level monsters, but it had a lot of the mediocre (3-4, three 5 stars, in your deck here) cards, and really nice trap and magic cards to back them up! Besides, you had never gotten a hold of any really good monster cards, for some odd twist of Fate...

You put your cards back in your purse.

As you were musing to yourself, you were unable to notice the car behind you, veering wildly as if the driver were drunk...

A barbaric screeching pulled you out of your reverie as you instantly turned to see a car coming straight at you...

That is until a force hit your body, and making you move in an adjacent direction the car was coming. Before anything could possibly make any sense, you landed harshly on the cement of the sidewalk, and it didn't help that something (well, someone) heavy (with the help of gravity) landed on top of you, stealing the air from your lungs.

You heard a very deep throated "Are you alright?" as the now-recognizable body got off of you, and you paid no mind to it as you were concentrating on supplying air to your lungs.

Scrunching into a ball to release the affect of the weight that had driven your breathing off pattern, it slowly came back to you.

Finally, now that problem one was solved, you slowly sat up holding your head gingerly to have a look around.

"Are you alright, miss?"

That's funny; wasn't there a deep voice just a minute ago?

"Um, yeah. I think...," you replied softly, as well as a tad confused. Where had that deep voice come from?

Suddenly, you noticed the crazy hair this boy in front of you had... Black, red, and yellow? Or was it blonde? And how'd he get his hair to point like that?!

"Um..."

Too many thoughts were whizzing through your head, so the violet-eyes in front of you took it as a sign of confusion. And after that nasty fall, he may have thought it was signs of a concussion.

He frowned. But then he said brightly with excitement, "Hey! My grandpa's game shop is just over there! I could take you over so you could maybe rest a bit until you get your bearings back," he offered.

Your thoughts were muddled from all the confusion of the last few minutes... Usually you wouldn't have approached the guy due to your cautiousness. But he DID save your life. Perhaps you’d make an acception.

"Game shop...?" you said stupidly, like you were learning a new word.

"Yeah!" he said in the same tone as before. "C'mon!"

Before you could get anything more unintelligible out of your mouth, he helped you to stand, and then noticed your harsh wince. Both of you looked down to see the leg you landed on had been scraped up. It was especially nasty down in the area right before your ankle; it was bloody, like the friction of the concrete had grinded the skin off your bone. The blood was running down your leg, and since you had sandals on, you knew it would make a pleasant sound under your foot once moving...

"We should get that cleaned up," the boy said. "That's not just a scratch."

As he insisted upon at least holding your hand all the way across the street to his grandfather's game shop, you noticed that he wasn't that much taller than you; maybe a couple of inches.

Soon, you had reached the game shop, and the boy wasted no time in taking you inside and letting you have a seat. He rushed behind the counter and threw open a door, coming back swiftly with a first aid kit. Then he went back and brought out a clean cloth and a bowl of hot water.

Kneeling down beside his "tools," he set to work; first cleaning your wound.

"By the way, my name's Yugi Moto," he said in between his work.

"I'm ___(y/n)___," you replied, this time stronger to not let this little guy get the wrong idea about you needing rescued. In fact, normally, you would have never accepted the help, but you figured you'd humor him, sense he was so adamant in helping you.

You sucked air through your teeth sharply, as you abruptly came to see that Yugi was finally rubbing your wound with an alcohol wipe.

He murmed a pathetic, "Sorry."

You didn't really say anything. It made you feel bad that he sounded so...pathetic, but it wasn't like you were yelling at him! Hell! You weren't even looking at him like you did most people! Maybe it was the hair...

Suddenly, he stood. "I'm finished! How about we try your ankle now? To make sure it's not twisted or anything."

Dumbly, you stared at him...straight into his violet eyes. Something flashed and startled you; it was like another person was in them! But then you registered what Yugi said. "Oh! Um! Yeah!"

You were fumbling your words. How embarassing.

You focused your vision down at your ankle, afraid of looking into this "Yugi's" eyes once again. It was wrapped in gauze, quite expertly. Testing your ankle, you could tell it was just the injury making it burn and smart so much. Suppressing your wince with a smile, you said not to worry him, "It's just the scrape that's making it hurt."

You noticed his frown.

"But it's much better now! It doesn't hurt that much at all!"

You were lying through your teeth, but Yugi's frown was pulling at a heart-string; it reminded you so much of your's when people disappointed you...

"That's great!" Yugi said in a happy smile. "Can I get you anything; a drink, or maybe something to eat?"

You really didn't want to... But how could you resist such an eager smile? "Um, I think I'd like some water..."

He was gone before you could put in any manners; like being there made you manners enough.

Sitting back down in your chair, you noticed it was with a small table, accompanied by another emptied chair neighboring yours across the table.

Yugi came back in a flash with one, cold, ice water that he put in front of you and then took a seat in the empty chair.

"Thank you."

Mannerisms were important to you; they showed respect.

"No problem."

That's when you noticed that you had a death grip on your defenseless purse. Quickly, you released the death grip. No wonder you weren't fumbling your words anymore...you had been taking out your nervousness on your purse. You gave a wistful sigh. Yugi noticed, and started up some small talk.

"I was wondering, are you the new transfer student that'll be starting at Domino High on Monday?"

Finishing a sip of your water, you answered, "Yeah, I am."

You didn't know what else to say. You weren't one for small talk.

Your eyes were on your purse, and you knew Yugi could sense your uncomfortable air. But you couldn’t help it; it was so nerve-wrecking to be in a new place…and almost get run over by a car….

But before he asked anything else, you saw your deck spill out from your purse! When Yugi saved you, it must have shaken up your deck to the top of your purse!

Upon instinct, you got out of your chair and knelt down to recover the scattered cards. Yugi joined you after a shock-moment. You were just hoping that the rescue-rattle hadn't made you loose any outside...

After picking up all the cards on "your side," you stood and so did Yugi, and he handed all the ones he had gathered.

"I didn't know you played Duel Monsters," he said, bemused.

You were going through all the cards you had like your life depended on it. Hopefully one of your cards hadn't gotten lost! They were always there for you! They were all you had, because your father was never there for you...but your cards always were. If you lost one, you didn't know what you would do...

"Um, yeah," you said, distracted. "I just started a month ago, though. I'm nothing special."

Out of your peripheral, you noticed those different eyes in Yugi again, but you tried to ignore it.  
With a great sigh of relief, you found you weren't missing any of your cards. Both of you sat back down at the table, and Yugi asked more questions, but this time, he seemed like someone else... Would it never end?

"So how do you like the game?"

Well, it was better than small talk, and besides, you always loved to talk about things that you liked.

"I love it! I love the strategy involved!" You told him, very much excited now.

Yugi smiled triumphantly, finally getting you out of your nervous rut. But instead of building on the previous question, he jumped around. "What's your favorite card?"

You felt like he was testing you. Odd. But you didn't think the question could hurt by answering it truthfully. "Princess of Tsurugi," you said in excitement. "She's not the strongest monster, but her effect can pack quite a punch."

"I totally agree," Yugi commented sagely. "But that's quite an interesting card to pick as your favorite since you're only a beginner."

"I know," you replied nervously, suddenly taken aback by Yugi's condescending question.  
You've only known the guy for maybe, fifteen minutes, but that just didn't seem in his nature... But you carried on anyway. "Well, you can always take down brutes with crafty combos."

"You already have the mindset of an experienced player; noticing that brawn isn't everything."

 _Why_ did he seem like he was suddenly someone else...? Was it just the game?

"You seem to be a very experienced player yourself, from that answer," it was a challenging tone, to match his.

He smirked in a delighted way. This was _definitely_ not the shy boy that had just cleaned and bandaged your wound, but he didn't seem to be doing any harm...

"You could say that."

It was like you weren't talking to Yugi anymore...

"Would you mind if I had a look at your deck? Maybe I could give you a few pointers?"

You only nodded; you were being provoked by this seemingly other side of Yugi, and you liked it, even if you didn't think you were that good anyway. You handed your deck over to him.  
He suddenly got very serious as he looked through your cards. "Ah! I see you have two Dark Holes in your deck. A nice magic card to have when facing opponents with high-level monsters."

You couldn't suppress the grin that came on your face.

"Well, all I can say is keep building, and to get some more high-level monsters," Yugi told you sagely once again. "It's a great start though. Your deck has a lot of potential, even with what you have now."

Your smiled started to beam, and Yugi smiled that he had said the right things to keep you out of your nervousness...or was it to just see you smile now?

As he handed the deck back to you, a tall boy with blonde hair and a thick East Coast accent busted through the front door of the game shop.

"HEY YUGE! YOU OKAY MAN?!"

He rushed over to Yugi and started checking him over him like he was expected him to have something horribly wrong with him.

"I heard somethin' 'bout you an' a car an' I rushed straight hea!"

"Joey, I'm fine!" Yugi insisted, now standing in front of Joey. He was back to the shy and innocent side...

"But someone said you was almost clipped!"

"Joey! Do I LOOK like I've been clipped by a car...?"

"...No."

There was an awkward silence that followed after that. Especially since Joey was trying to figure out why you were in Yugi's grandpa's shop, with Yugi, _alone_...

"Hey, uh, Yuge? Is dere somethin' I should know about...?"

But before Yugi could answer, two more people burst in the door.

What was with these people? They were all so rude!

"Yugi! We heard you saved some girl by a drunk driver and-oh, there, she, is." The one that spoke so heatedly at first was some boy that had lethally pointed hair. You involuntarily shivered.

"Yes! That's what we heard!" a girl with short brown hair said. "We came to see if everyone was alright!"

What was with these people? They all seemed to care. You weren't used to that.

"Oh my god, YUGE! WHY di'nt ya tell me about dat?!"

This was getting too chaotic for you, and Yugi seemed to be getting overwhelmed with all his friends' questions. So, you chose this time to leave. "Well, I'm sorry to leave so soon, but as you can see, everyone is fine, and I thank everyone for their concern, but I must be going..."

You rushed out of the game shop, ignoring the nagging pain in your foot that made you want to stop, hold it, and scream.

You knew it was awfully rude to leave like that, but, it was getting too hectic with all the people being in there, conversing about _you_ like you weren't there. Well, that lethal hair guy noticed you, but his hair freaked you out too much to give him any credit for it.

So with that all in your mind, you decided to worry about it when you saw them again at school the next day.

**********


	2. A Filler-In

**********

**Chapter 2:** _A Filler-In_

**********

_With Yugi and the gang..._

"GUYS!" Yugi tried to get in. " _I_ didn't save her!"

They all stopped arguing about who's rumor had truth. Not at finally hearing Yugi, but at hearing the "I didn't save her" bit.

Joey looked the most confused out of anyone there. "But, eh...I thought dat's what happened?"

"It wasn't me! It was Yami!"

They all sighed in realization.

"So what are you going to tell her?" Tea asked.

"She assumes I saved her, I guess..."

"But you didn't," Tristan was trying to get his facts straight.

"I KNOW!" Yugi spat, and scared all his friends. "Sorry..."

"Hey, what's wrong, Yuge?"

"It's nothing," Yugi tried to go upstairs. His friends stopped him.

"No offense, Yugi," Tristan said matter-of-factly. "But with an outburst like that, there is _definitely_ something wrong."

"Yeah, please tell us, Yugi. We'll try to help," Tea woed.

Yugi released a huge sigh. "Yami felt a connection to her."

They all gasped.

"Like, to his past?" Tea offered.

"So did it trigger any of his memories?" Tristan went next.

"Yeah, like a beautiful, moonlit night next to the Nile...?" Joey said slyly. He was elbowed by Tea.

"This is serious, Joey!"

"Owowowowowowowow....!"

"All Yami got was a feeling..."

They knew there was more.

"What is it, Yugi?" It was Tea.

"I just...feel like I'm holding him back, is all...," Yugi said softly.

"Oh! C'mon! It's not your fault!"

"I know!" Yugi cried. "But, she thinks that it was _me_ who saved her, and I feel like I'm lying, and that I'm holding Yami back!" He slumped to the ground against the wall.

Tea took this time to gather him in a big hug as she sat down next to him. "I'm sure Yami doesn't think you're holding him back. Besides, if you feel that bad about it, you should tell her the truth--"

"But she'll think I'm crazy! All you guys did!"

They all sweatdropped a bit at that memory, but they composed themselves quickly enough.

"We'll back ya up, Yuge!"

"Yeah! What are friends for anyway!"

Yugi turned to see Joey with a wink and his thumb up in the air. Tristan was also doing his own signature of the stance.

"Okay," Yugi said none-too-enthusiastically. "Well, I should get this place cleaned up before grandpa gets back."

He loved his friends, but he wanted some alone time.

"Hey, Yuge? This place looks pretty cl-!" Tristan put Joey in a head lock and covered his mouth, slowly heading for the door.

"Okay," Tea said. "We'll leave you to yourself for now, Yugi. But, we may be back by later to check on you!"

And with that, Yugi stood after he heard the game shop door close. He then headed upstairs to his room.

When he got there, he went to his bed and heaved a great sigh as he sat down on it, falling to his back, his arms spread out. Yami chose this time to be seen in his ghost-like form next to Yugi.

"Yugi, how could you think that you were holding me back? Afterall, without you, I would have never been able to know as much as I do now."

"That's not what I meant," Yugi said, raising back up to a sitting position. "It's just, when we were talking with __(y/n)__, you couldn't talk to her. She thought I had saved her; it would look weird for a 5,000 year old spirit to come out of the blue to talk to her."

"True," Yami stood, raising his hand to his chin. "But she looks very cute when she's confused...and when she smiles. She doesn't smile enough."

" _Yami_...," Yugi nudged verbally. He was uncomfortable with Yami thinking that way. He had the whole time he talked to __(y/n)__.

"What?" he said innocently.

Yugi just shook his head. Then sighed, looking out his window. "Too bad there wasn't some way we could get you out of my body. I feel like my life holds your search back, and today was just showing me that again."

"Yugi, I've waited 5,000 years to be here. But thanks to you solving the Millenium Puzzle, I had a chance to have a life again. What's another year or two?"

"I know you're just saying that," Yugi sighed.

Yami didn't respond.

**********


	3. Personality Split

**********

**Chapter 3:** _Personality Split_

*********

"Hey grandpa!" Yugi greeted as Grandpa made his way through the front door of the game shop.

Yugi would have ran up to him to embrace his dear grandpa in a big hug...if it weren't for the big trunk he was heaving in. It wasn't so heavy that it was straining every fossil-like muscle in his body, but it wasn't exactly light either.

Yugi gave a look of bewilderment. "What is that?"

"Oh," he began after resting the trunk on the cashier counter. It was gold, but it was very old and dingy looking. Yugi guessed it had also been hidden away for quite some time because he couldn't make out anything on it from where he was standing.

"Some fella where I pick up the card shipments gave it to me. He's been trying to get rid of it."

"Well why not give it to the museum? It looks really old."

"Guess he didn't want to bother; there is a lot of paper work involved after all," he said more to himself. "Well, since I took this thing, I had to keep the card shipments at the place that I pick them up at. I'll be back a little later."

"Okay, Grandpa." And with that, Grandpa left.

Of course, that left Yugi's curious mind to probe at the dusty trunk sitting atop the cashier counter. Yugi approached it, rather meaningfully, yet cautiously. As he neared it, he could make out the same eye that was on all the Millenium Items!

"Yami! Look! It has the eye symbol! What do you think it means?"

Yugi rushed the box, all caution gone, and he hurriedly wiped about half of the dust off. He kept running his fingers over the heiroglyphic scriptures in amazement.

Yami, who had materialized in his ghost form beside Yugi, inspected the box carefully. It gave him a bad feeling, like it had done something to him before...

"Yugi," he warned. "I'm not getting a good feeling from this."

"I'm sure it's fine!" Yugi assured him, looking for the contraption to open the trunk. "I mean, it has the same heiroglyphics as the Millenium Puzzle; it shouldn't be any harm if I got you from the same heiroglyphics, right?"

Yami didn't answer. He was too caught up in trying to read the heiroglyphics. "Trying" because after not having any practice in about 5000 years did make people rusty. That's when he recognized the symbol for "curse."

"YUGI STOP! DON'T OPEN IT!"

But just as he said this, Yugi had undid the locking mechanism, and the trunk lid flew open with a violent "BANG!"

Suddenly, a vaccuum had started in the small front room of the game shop. But Yugi wasn't being sucked in; it was the Millenium Puzzle at his neck that seemed to want to go towards it.   
Yugi was straining his neck to keep it from going in.

Looking around, he saw Yami no where, and nothing was saying anything in his head.

"Oh no... He must be in the Millenium Puzzle from the power of that box!"

He set his face determinedly. "NO! You can't!"

Yugi, at this time, had never realized how he got used to Yami being there for him, for just, being around when he needed someone to talk to. Yami was his friend. He wasn't ready to have him taken away! He knew the day would have to come, because, he was an undead spirit, but...

He wasn't ready yet! It couldn't take him away!

"NO! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!! YOU CAN'T!!!"

He was yelling at the box; like it knew what he was saying, and that it would stop if Yugi demanded it to.

But it was just a box...

"NO! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!" Yugi screamed again. Waterworks had already started on Yugi's face. They were some of the most anguished tears and screams he had ever cried.

As if the box had heard him, it upped the power of the suction, and Yugi fell to his knees to get a better stability on keeping the Puzzle. The box would have to take him with it if the box wanted the Puzzle.

"NOOOO!! STOP IT! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!"

Yugi was now being moved slowly across the floor by the force the box was emitting. His tears had increased, and he was beside himself in despair. He knew if it wasn't stopping now, he couldn't save him. HE couldn't save Yami. HE couldn't save his friend...

But some inkling in Yugi's brain kept Yugi yelling.

"NO!" he cried pathetically. "You can't have him, you can't have him, you can't have him..." His crying deepened, like he had given up on fighting it. He was so close to the box...

Yugi didn't understand! WHY did Yami need to be taken away? He hadn't even figured out what happened in his past life! Was he just reborn to be taken away so selfishly?

That did it; Yugi was angry. There was no way this...this BOX was going to take his friend   
away! He didn't deserve it!

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM, YOU HEAR?!" his voice came back full force. "YAMI'S MY FRIEND!! HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE AGAIN!!! SO YOU, CAN'T!! HAVE HIM!!"

The lid shut abruptly with a "KLUNK." Yugi didn't have enough time to notice it had stopped the vaccuum...because it had engulfed the room with the most blinding light.

And as quick as it had come, it had gone.

Yugi tried to rub his eyes clear of the affects of the light on his eyes. It took a few good moments until he could properly see again.

"Yugi?"

Yugi recognized that voice! It was Yami! But where...?

Yugi saw Yami standing before him, plain as day! He was clad in his black outfit; the black tank-top, the black jeans, and the overly large buckle-choker that he wore with it. But he didn't look like he was a spirit anymore...

"Yami?" Yugi paused. "What...happened?"

"I don't know," he said in wonder, "but I think, I'm alive. I can feel my heart beat." Yami physically had his hand over his chest, and he was basking in the fact that his chest was making a sound again. "It's been so long..."

Yugi was bewildered. He was still on the floor on all fours, still a little drained from the effort before. "But...how?"

"I don't know," Yami answered again. "It was...odd. I felt like I was being ripped from my bond with you, Yugi. But then, that light...it made me feel warm, and then, I was here. Standing before you."

Yugi smiled...a very big, beaming smile of being overjoyed, in fact. Yami was here to stay then.

The Box had let Yugi keep him. That made him feel good.

Suddenly, Yugi's grandpa just happened to stumble back in the game shop...to find Yugi, and another person there that he couldn't recognize.

"Um, Yugi? Who's this?"

"Oh! Um!" Yugi fumbled to a standing position, and went to Yami's side. "He just arrived, actually! Yeah! And he says that he's from dad's side; a distant cousin."

Grandpa raised an eyebrow.

"He's confused about the geneology himself, actually, but we ARE realated!" Yugi put on his best fake grin. His grandfather didn't really look like he was buying it. Noticing his look, he added, "But, of course, how else could you explain the similar hair?"

Both Yami and Grandpa sweatdropped.

"Well, that doesn't look like a coincidence...I guess," Grandpa said uncertainly. "What's your name, then?"

"Yami."

"Well, I assume you are in high school, yes?"

"Yeah! He's sixteen like me!" Yugi added brightly. "That means he's in my class!" It seemed   
Yugi was WAY more than overjoyed now...

"Well then, we'll have to get you a uniform somehow before tomorrow, and enrolled..."

"You can borrow one of my uniforms until we get you one! C'mon! Let's go!"

Yugi dragged a confused Yami upstairs.

**********

_back to you..._

Your first day of school had gotten off to a rocky start. How did YOU, the Queen of Punctuality manage to get up late this morning?

_'It must have been from all the excitement from yesterday,'_ you told yourself. _'I mean, almost getting hit by a car can drain you a lot mentally.'_

Skidding as you took a turn, you immediately broke out in run again as the inertia had given the previous way. You checked your watch again; it read 8:25.

Yep. You were _definitely_ going to be late. _'Dammit!'_ you curse in your head. _'WHY does it have to be on my first day! I bet my teacher's will get the wrong impression now...'_

**********

"This is _not_ the best impression to give on your first day of school, Miss __(y/last name)__," the teacher told you sternly.

You could only stare at the floor; you felt awful! This wasn't you! You were a very responsible person! "You may have a seat now; it doesn't matter where."

You turned to see that the whole classroom was almost full, but there were some empty ones in the back...

You stopped breathing a second as your heart skipped a beat; you saw all the people you had from yesterday at the game shop!

Wait.

But who was that other guy who looked a lot like Yugi...?

"MISS __(y/l.n.)! Is there something you want to share with us?" You had twisted around quite fast to see an irritated teacher staring you down.

Blushing under the embarassment, you quickly went to the back of the room to get as far away as possible from the teacher, and sat in the first desk you could see that was empty.

"Ey, don't be upset," Joey told you from the desk in front of you. "She's jus' moody cause 'er guy friend left 'er fer some hooker th' other day."

You just stared at him as he turned back around in his seat.

Staring at your desk, you began to wonder why you had even attempted school today. That's when the lesson began.

**********

It was now break, and you had opted to stay in your seat and not bother anyone. You were having too much of a bad day to be bothered with people; you would much rather stay in your head until your irritability passed.

Breaking you out of your thoughts was Joey, from a couple desks down where a group of boys had assembled, including Yugi, the Yugi look-alike, Tristan, and some other people. It seemed that Joey and another boy were playing a game of arrogance with Duel Monsters.

"No way, man! My Red-Eyes would own ya if I ever dueled ya!"

"You're wrong!" another boy said. "My Earl of Demise with equip cards could tear him down!"

Joey laughed arrogantly. "Dude, I'm tellin' ya: I'd never let ya have th' chance! I'd squash yer pathetic excuse fer a card 'n one blow!"

The boys who had gathered to watch only shook their heads and finally moved elsewhere, giving up on the charade. You also shook your head. Joey was pathetic; if that's all he thought about, he'd never amount to anything as a duelist.

You jerked around suddenly, when you felt a hand touch your shoulder. You saw that it was the Yugi look-alike.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Yes," he replied, taking a seat in front of you. He was turned around in it sideways, his face toward you. His eyes were so penetrating...you couldn't help but slink a little in your chair.

"I just wanted to tell you that I was the one that saved you from that...car, the other day."

That's when you recognized the deep, powerful voice. So you _hadn't_ imagined it!

"So _you_ were the one! I didn't think Yugi's voice could go that deep..." You were revisiting the memory. But then, "Why didn't Yugi tell me?"

That question had caught him off guard. "Oh! Well, uh, you see... Yugi isn't the most forward person you could meet."

There was silence after that. You had begun to get nervous again; you never did do well with new people. But then you realized that you never got to thank him for his rescue!

"Oh! How rude of me! I never got to say thank you for that! So, um, thanks..." You slunk back in your chair, a little embarassed by your words.

"I'm Yami," he said, offering his hand. "It was no problem. Besides, if I hadn't saved you, I probably wouldn't have met you."

"I'm __(y/n)__," you took his hand gingerly and shook it.

You smiled inspite of yourself, blushing at the contact of the new person. Or was it because you began to notice how cute this guy was looking to you now that he had burst your cloud of irritability?

He got up to leave, but turned on his heal to say something before he left.

"And you should smile more," he told you, in that sly way that was covered by sincerity.   
"Frowns do not suit you."

And with that, he left you with your face in a heated, tingly sensation. Your whole face went pink...

...But it was ruined when Joey came up to you, demanding to see your Duel Monster's deck.

"Hey! When'd ya get one? Let's have a duel!"

You sneered at him, greatly offended that he had ruined the good mood you were in. "Tch. Yeah, like I'd duel a loser like you! You probably can't even Flip Summon!"

Joey's eyes narrowed down at your sitting form. "WHAT? You wanna take dis t' da battle field?!"

You thought a moment. Maybe you _could_ take him out in a duel. Afterall, with as much as he trash-talked, and as confused as he got, he may not be _that_ good. Especially since you relied on combos more anyway...

"Yeah. I accept your challenge," you told him tersely.

"Alright den: after school, at th' arena at th' park! Yer going down!"

You only smirked. This would prove interesting at the least.

**********


	4. You vs. Joey

**********

**Chapter 4:** _You vs. Joey_

**********

Everyone (Tea, Tristan, Yami, Yugi, Joey, and yourself) walked in silence to the park arena that Joey had challenged you to. You, were now feeling kind of nervous. Maybe you shouldn't have sounded so mean before? Joey was awfully mad right now...

"Alright, we're hea," Joey informed tersely. "You ready fer th' beatdown of a life-time?!"

You set a look Joey's way, and extended your hand; it was part of the game etiquette; both players were to shake hands before the duel.

Joey stared at your hand, dumbly, as if he didn't know this...

"It's the etiquette, Joey," Yugi popped in. "We're not in Duelist Kingdom anymore, so the etiquette before a match applies."

What was "Duelist Kingdom," you wondered.

You wanted to ask that, but you thought you were nervous enough as is. This was your first REAL duel; one that you did with some "random" person. Knowing whatever "Duelist Kingdom" was might freak you out even more, so you decided not to ask.

Finally, Joey took your hand, and you shook, and then going to your respective places in the arena. It was weird, though. You thought Joey would be more loud about this. Maybe you really shouldn't have sounded so mean... Why did you always make as many enemies as possible?

Tea flipped a coin to see who would go first. Since you were the "new kid," you got to call it.

"Tails."

Too bad it came out heads. You heard Joey do a little victory dance on his side. You could only give him a quick side glare before Yugi piped in once again, "Okay, you both start out with 2000 Life Points. You can start anytime."

You both drew five cards each, and Joey initiated the Draw Phase for the beginning of his turn.

He was taking a while to decide, so you checked over what you already had in your hand: Drillago (machine/effect), Arcane Archer of the Forest (warrior/effect), Malevolent Nuzzler (magic/equip), Dreamsprite (plant/effect), and Graverobber's Retribution (trap/continuous).

That was a pretty good hand, from the experience you had so far.

Joey then announced what he was doing. "I play Harpie's Brother in attack mode!"

Proper etiquette during the game was to say what you were doing in a loud, clear voice.

"An' I put a card face-down on th' field. I end my turn."

You gulped. You were familiar with the card, and you distincly remember it had 1800 attack points. And he had a possible trap card on the field.

This may not turn out well...

Begrudgingly, you drew your card, initiating your own Draw Phase. It was Princess of Tsurugi(warrior/effect)!

Okay, maybe this would work. If you had a couple more cards, you may be able to pull off that nice strategy you made up where you used to live...

That's when you noticed the effect on the machine monster Drillago in your hand, but you couldn't use it right away! His effect was that if the opponent's monster was or over 1600 in attack points, you could attack his Life Points. _'Okay, he'll have to be the guinea.'_

"I summon Drillago in attack mode!" Not being able to use your Graverobber's Retribution (only affects cards removed from play), and you could only summon once, you decided to end your turn. You had a plan for Malevolent Nuzzler... "I decide to end my turn."

"Alright den!" Joey said cockily. "My turn!"

Joey drew another card. He grabbed another and summoned it onto the field. "I summon Gearfried, the Iron Night in attack mode! Next, I attack with Harpie's Brother, and take out your Drillago!"

You had fallen to 1800 points after damage calculation. This was not good...

"An' I end my turn."

A little shaken by Joey's fierce, and swift attack, you drew a card from your deck. It was Invitation to a Dark Sleep (spellcaster/effect)! Okay, maybe you could fool with a bluff for one turn... "I summon a monster face down on the field." (It's Princess of Tsurugi). "And I end my turn."

Joey gave you a peculiar look, wanting to know if you were trying to lure him into something.

Drawing a card, he gave a big hoot-'n-hollerin', "YES!!! ALRIGHT!!"

You shuddered. But maybe he was trying a bluff on you too...?

"I sacrifice Harpie's Brother an' Gearfried, th' Iron Night to summon...Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field in attack mode!" Joey grinned arrogantly. "HA! EAT THAT!! I'll take ya out in no-time flat now!!"

You glared murderously across the field. How DARE he! He was mocking you! Your pride was on the line! This was no time for jokes! Setting a determined face at him, he sneered at you. "An' since I can't attack because he was just summoned, I end my turn."

With great certainty that you were going to mangle his body after this, you drew your card: Darkworld Thorns (plant). Dammit! Where WAS your one beastly card at?! You wanted to hit  
Joey where it hurt, SO BAD, right now!

But you grinned, all the same. "I summon Invitation to a Dark Sleep in defense mode. And because it's effect also begins when it's summoned, your Red-Eyes Black Dragon can't attack!"

"WHAT?! NO WAY! YA CAN'T DO DAT!!"

"The effect of Invitation to a Dark Sleep says in the rule book that as long as it is face-up on the field, I can choose one of your monsters not to attack. And since the only one on the field is your Red-Eyes Black Dragon, it must be that card!" You didn't say it rude or arrogantly. You said it more in a reciting way, like a poem. Of course, that effect blocking Joey's powerful card was definitely music to your ears.

Looking at the rest of your hand while Joey was recovering from shock, you saw you couldn't do much else. If you could get a few key cards, you could use the magic cards in your hand very well...

"I discard one card to keep my hand at an even five."

You discarded your Graverobber's Retribution. There was no way Joey would use expensive enough cards that they'd have to remove cards from play for him.

"I end my turn."

Joey growled at you, and his face was now stuck in a dark glare...only for you. He drew a card. "I summon a monster face-down on th' field. And I put another face down card on th' field t' end my turn."

You drew your card more confidently now. But the other possible trap card was worrying you....

It was Metal Armored Bug! Your big, 8-star card! It had 2800 attack and 1500 defense! This card was your game winning card! Not just because of how strong it was, but because your other cards could direct it as the only card to be attacked! "I summon Darkworld thorns in attack mode. And I end my turn."

Joey drew another card, and kind of paled; it was like his foreseen win was suddenly taken away... Or it could have been your making his Red-Eyes not be able to attack. "I summon Spirit of th' Harp 'n defense mode. And I end my turn."

That was odd. Why wasn't Joey attacking?

In a weird, foreboding kind of way, you drew your next card.

It was Fissure. But, it really wasn't part of your plan right now... "I flip summon Princess of Tsurugi, and I sacrifice both Darkworld Thorns and Princess of Tsurugi to summon Metal Armored Bug on the field in attack mode!"

You saw Joey smirk a little. He knew that it still couldn't beat his Red-Eyes right away.  
But now for the twist...

"I also equip Metal Armored Bug with Malevolent Nuzzler and Invigoration! That brings it to a total of 3900 for it's attack and 1700 for it's defense!" You saw Joey's jaw drop. "And I end my turn."

Joey now looked to be fine where he was standing now. He drew another card, and smirked. "I choose to end my turn," he said slyly. This time, you managed to hear the others gasp from where they were watching, almost forgetting they were there.

There was a cold feeling in your stomach now. Something wasn't right with what Joey had recently picked up for his hand, but you drew your card, anyway.

It was Earth Chant, but you didn't need it right this second. "I summon Dreamsprite on the field in defense mode. And since the effect starts right away, I can choose one of my monsters to direct the attack by you, and of course, that will be my Metal Armored Bug."

You were getting a little shakey now; your hands, that is. You didn't know why, though... "I now attack with my Metal Armored Bug to your Red-Eyes Black Dragon."

His Life Points went down to 500 after that devastating blow. His Red-Eyes was also destroyed, but for some reason it wasn't phasing him in the least... "I choose to end my turn," you finally said.

Joey could only smirk when he drew his card, not even bothering to look at it. He put it in his hand and drew a different card. "I activate th' magic card Dark Hole!" You froze. "Which I'm sure you know destroys all th' monsters on th' field."

And thus, your Dreamsprite, Invitation to a Dark Sleep, and Metal Armored Bug were gone. As were Joey's Spirit of the Harp, and his face down card, which was his Princess of Tsurugi.

"Next I summon a monster card face-down in attack mode! And I end my turn!"

Your stomach had, assuredly, left your body. Or it could have been down at your feet; you couldn't tell.

You drew your card; Goblin King (fiend/effect).

DAMN! You needed something better than that to attack Joey with! You HAD to finish him off! Actually, you couldn't even attack with Goblin King, nor defend with it; the card had to have another fiend-type out on the field to be worth anything, because right now it was 0/0. All you had left was your Arcane Archer of the Forest from the first five you drew. His attack was only 900, so your only choice would be to put him in defense mode, which was 1400. You knew Joey would attack head on now that he wiped out your cards, so it was no use putting it face down either.

"I summon Arcane Archer of the Forest in defense mode!"

And you couldn't use Fissure because it only affected face up cards! And you couldn't use Earth Chant because you didn't have other very good 3-stared monsters like your Arcane Archer... "I end my turn!" You said boldy. You wouldn't let Joey shake you if you were going to lose!

"Okay! Enough of dis playin' around!" Joey drew another card from his deck. "I flip summon Battle Ox, an' summon Kojikocy in attack mode! Next I'll use my Fissure, and destroy your Arcane Archer of th' Forest!"

Your body went rigid.

Joey sent a very condescending look your way, and you set a glare back at him. You wouldn't let him know this was getting to you! "An' I end. My. Turn."

You felt like ripping him apart until you found his spleen...

You drew another card...and clenched your teeth; a Reverse Trap. Great... Just _freaking_ GREAT! You couldn't use that! There were no increases or decreases going to happen on the field now!

But the Fissure card...

You had forgotten about it.

"I will use Fissure, and destroy the lowest attack monster on your field." Joey's Kojikocy was  
then destroyed.

Now all you could do was bluff your worthless Goblin King... "And I end my turn by summoning a monster card face-down in attack mode!"

"If dat's all your gonna do, den yer as good as dead!" Joey was dripping in arrogance. He drew his card, only to draw one, because he never looked at it. "I activate my trap card, Reinforcements, which puts my attack up t' 500 more fer th' monster I choose t' attack wit! And I attack wit my Battle Ox, which is now at 2200!"

Your Goblin King had been attacked, so it was revealed as so.

"So ya got Goblin King, eh? Well, since you ain't got no other fiends on th' field, it's at 0/0, right? So, that means yer Life Points of 1800 now go to 0! YES! IwinIwinIwinIwinIwinIwin-I-WIN!!!"

You dropped your head to stare at the floor as the battle areas were lowered to the arena ground. You were SO mad... Not at Joey, anymore, but at your deck. At how you were beaten...by just a mere magic card...

You gathered your deck to join the others in the stands, where Joey had already beaten you to...again. But you wouldn't let them know it was bothering you. At least, you tried to. You were acting very somber, and everyone noticed it; they knew you were upset by the loss...except Joey.

"Oh yeah! Didjya see dat, Yugi?!" Joey danced around. "I totally creamed 'er!"

"Quit being so inconsiderate, Joey!" Tea scorned. "Besides, she only started a month ago!"

"Yeah," Tristan came in. "Really, that play with your Dark Hole card seemed more like luck than actually strategy."

"WHAT?! How DARE ya say dat t' me, Tristan! Maybe I won't let ya see Serenity anymore!!"

"I'm sure she'd still want to see me...," Tristan retorted all lovey-dovey.

Joey dived for Tristan and put him in a headlock, and Tristan reacted by trying to gnaw Joey's arm off.

"Get offa me, New York Minute!"

"No way in HELL, gel-abuser!"

The rest of the group only sighed and shook their heads. Then, they all turned to you.

"Hey, don't let it get you down," Tea woed.

"Yeah, Joey used to lose a lot more," Yugi explained, "but I think his recent level in skill going up has gone to his head."

You all glanced toward the two fighting again. Tristan was trying to pull Joey's arm off, while keeping him in place on the ground with his foot.

"Um, maybe I should go stop them before they hurt themselves...," Tea offered.

"GAH! Yugi! GET HIM OFF!!!" Tristan yelled, now bent over a railing quite painfully. "HE LISTENS TO YOU!!! GET HIM OFFA ME!!!"

Yugi gave a nervous smile and took off with Tea, but yelled back to you, "But you dueled very well, __(y/n)__!"

"I have to agree with him," a deep voice said to the side of you.

It was Yami. He had pushed of the railing he was leaning on to come closer to you.

"You handled your cards expertly," Yami commended with a smile. "I can't believe you said you only started a month ago."

You blushed at the comment...and the smile. "Well, that's not a strategy I can use often," you said modestly. "It was just luck to have those cards when I needed them."

"Oh, come now," Yami started slyly. "For you to know those cards would work that well with each other..."

"The cards do it themselves!" You insisted. "After all, they all have distinct abilities, attributes, and everything! It just happened that way!"

Joey suddenly came up and put Yami in a boyish head-lock...and gave him the most condescending grin he was capable of. "Whatchya talkin' about, Yami? Gonna ask 'er out anytime soon...?"

You blushed at the comment, as did Yami, but he became quite flustered. "JOEY!" He shoved his arm off of him. "It's RUDE to interrupt conversations! Especially ones that you aren't part of!"

He then stormed off to the other side of the arena.

"God, Joey!" Tea smacked him upside the head. "You're such a pre-historic idiot!"

"HEY! I resent dat!" Joey said smugly. Then, "I'm a modern-day idiot...."

Everyone in the area face-faulted.

You suddenly felt very out of place. "Um, I'm gonna go, home, now..."

"But it's getting dark!" Tea mentioned. "Someone should walk you home!"

"No it's not Te-oof!" Yugi was stopped by Tea's elbow.

Was it you, or were these people trying to set you up for something?

"I have t' see Serenity at th' hospital," Joey said. "Besides, I ain't gonna take some LOSER home..."

You would have said something, but Tristan stopped you. "And I'm going too!"

"No yer not!"

"Yes I am!"

"No, yer not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"You go an' I'll break yer legs!"

"I'd like to see ya try, Joey!" And Tristan and Joey left everyone in their wild charade to the hospital.

"Well, that takes them out...," Tea sweatdropped. "I have to go to dance classes soon..."

Not wanting to catch Tea's elbow again, Yugi said, "And it's my turn to cook dinner tonight."

"So that leaves Yami..."

"I'll be FINE, really!" you insisted.

It wasn't that you didn't like Yami, it was the fact that you DID. And you had gone through enough stress today, and didn't want to be a nervous wreck AGAIN because you were going to go home with Yami...

"But there are so many bad people out there!" Tea reasoned. "We don't want anything to happen to you!"

Somehow, that last sentence seemed to be made up...

But before you could stop them, "Hey! Yami! C'mere!"

Yami turned to see that Tea was calling him over. He still looked quite miffed. But he walked over anyway...

"What is it?" he managed gruffly.

"Um, __(y/n)__ doesn't have anyone to walk her home," Yugi explained. "And you seem to be the only free one tonight..."

"But, I thought-"

"That's great!" Tea interjected. "Now c'mon, Yugi! We don't want to be late for our things!"

Tea grabbed Yugi by the arm and dragged him out of sight...or was it that the cloud of dust she kicked up behind her that was making it impossible to see them?

Blinking in a bewildered fashion, you turned to Yami. "Is it just me, or did they do this on purpose...?"

Yami turned to walk and closed his eyes, nodding his head in affirmation.

"Let's go then."

**********


	5. The Walk Home as an Exhibit

**********

**Chapter 5:** _The Walk Home as an Exhibit_

**********

He was so silent.

It was amazing that he could get so angry, and filled with spite one minute, and then completely solemn the next...

Of course, you didn't have a problem with the silence part as you were being walked home by Yami. It was the fact that it was the pensive, tension-filled silence that always accompanied the air of two people who wanted to talk to each other, but were too afraid to speak.

And THAT'S the kind of silence you hated.

You loved being at your own home, alone in the silence...knowing just you were there. But being with Yami was making you edgy! You had to break it! But how could you not sound condescending? You were a very blunt, and straight-forward person, so that would be a task for you...

"Um...so you're...related to Yugi, right?" you hesitated because you were trying to pick your diction while speaking.

Yami's head turned from the opposite direction that he was staring to look straight into your eyes. He had such a penetrating gaze, even when he was just looking at you...

"Yes," he said, weighing his answer to your question. His head shifted forward. "Yugi and I are cousins."

"Oh."

Dammit! Now that silence was back! But curiously, you noticed Yami's odd-shaped necklace.

"Where'd you get that necklace from?"

"Well, it was Yugi's, but he decided to give it to me."

"Oh." Boy, weren't you the one for vocabulary tonight?

Well, it was finally getting dark now. The sunset was illuminating all the buildings to their highest degree of color, and the windows in shops now appeared white because of the sun's glare.

You exhaled a rather big sigh.

"Something wrong?" His deep voice gave you chills. How was it that he was like, 5'5" and spoke like he was 7'8"?

"No. Just tired."

It had reverted back to that tension-filled silence yet again. You cursed the awkwardness of the situation.

Actually, it wasn't stuffy in the atmosphere because the two of you were afraid of speaking; it was more like, you knew that there was something to the other person, but you had NO idea what it was.

"Is your home much further?"

"Not much."

You lived in a big condo, thanks to the negligence of family affairs by your father and just kept working all the time. It was in downtown Domino close to the museum.

Speaking of the museum, you and Yami were just coming up to the front sidewalk of the place.

"Oh, look! 'Exclusive Egypt Exhibit: Free Admission. One Night Only'!" you read in excitement.

"Let's go!"

Yami looked as interested as you felt. "But, I thought I was taking you home...?" he asked in an almost teasing manner.

"Oh, c'mon!" you begged childishly. "I only live around the block! It won't take long!"

Yami gave a smirk, "Alright, but we shouldn't worry your parents." He began descending upon the staircase. You followed behind him. "That's no problem," you told him. "My dad won't be home until tomorrow."

It seemed Yami wanted to ask more about THAT comment, but he refrained himself. Well, that was good then, because you didn't feel like talking about it.

Actually, you were suddenly noticing how nice he looked in that royal-ish blue school uniform...

You shook the thought out of your head. Wait a minute... You never thought that way about guys! Not that you weren't into guys, it's just, you always thought that only thinking about guys that way made you seem so scandalous... And besides, you usually never had time to with all your school work, and your art.

Anyway, you pretended like the thought never crossed your mind as you and Yami climbed up the last stone steps to the museum. It was almost dark now so the museum building looked like some giant, dark, panthenon with the coldest looking steps.

In the lobby area, there was a sign saying where the exhibit would be located. Yami didn't even look at it and went down a hall to his right. You followed, a little confused. "Um, Yami?"

"I think it's this way," he said confidently.

Hmph. Were all men devoid of reading anything that started with a 'd'? Begrudgingly, you still followed. Although you were miffed at his late pig-headedness, it washed away from your mind as you saw King Tut's head; the one that went with his Egyptian coffin. You had never seen it in real life before! It was so amazing!

The gold lustered in the shine of the flourescent lighting, and it made it stand out from the rest of the exhibit. "Isn't it amazing, Yami?"

There was no answer.

"Yami?"

In fact, he seemed to be gone.

Well, he was still going down the hall when you last saw him, so you decided to continue down   
the hall.

Suddenly, you didn't feel as safe anymore. For some odd reason, no one was at the museum, you finally noticed. You still hadn't seen any museum workers either. And with Yami mysteriously gone, it made you wonder...

With those thoughts in mind, you quickened your pace, but didn't run because you knew that if you did, some twist of Fate would have some muesum curator yelling at you for it. You had no idea what was on the walls anymore, because you weren't looking.

As you reached the end of the hall, you noticed a roped off doorway. It said, "offical personel ONLY" on the door, but you noticed that it was open a considerable amount.

Then a thought reached your head: _'I may not be able to go down there, but I could still peak from up here...especially since no one seems to be around!'_

Mischeviously, you checked around for any museum workers or guards as you neared the door.

Nope. There was no one!

So you opened the door just enough to peak your head into it, and you leaned all the weight of your shoulders on the doorframe and the door, still keeping hold of the wall and door handle with your hands.

It was barely lit down there, but you could make out the faint heiroglyphics of some giant tablet on the way, and the familiar outline and colors of Yami's hair...

Wait.

WHY was Yami down there?!

Setting on a determined look on your face, you thought that maybe Yami worked at the museum, or knew someone who did. Otherwise, why would he be down there? Well, it was the most logical case, so, that meant you could go down there too!

Not feeling anymore apprehension of being caught, you mosy-ed yourself down the tile-like steps.

Finally hitting non-descending ground, you approached the giant stone tablet curiously. (Yami could wait a second!) Upon closer inspection, it was behind a thin wall of plastic. You looked at it, top to bottom first. But the most distinct quality you could find to it was that, the person on the right looked like Yami! "What...?" you whispered softly out loud. Those three things at the top kind of looked like...

"Duel Monster cards? Then why..."

But you were brought out of your pseudo-archeologist theory by a rather harsh step to the tile floor you were standing on. The noise broke you out of it.

Swinging around, you saw a tall, elegant woman looking at you with no readable expression on her face. With the shock of being caught, or potentially being in trouble with more than one person, you froze. Even your thoughts froze. All you could do, was observe.

The woman had black hair, the hair of night, and pristine blue eyes. She was dressed in some off-white, cream-colored garment...but you started staring at the necklace she had on. It had that same eye on Yami's neckalce...thing.

Suddenly, she raised her hand up quickly, and extended it towards you with her index finger, pointing. Quickly, she touched her finger to the area between your eyes, and a force seemed to push your whole body back!

You staggered to keep your footing, hitting the thin casing the tablet was behind. You slumped to your knees as a flaring pain started in your head, and rushed to every part of your body like a mad, mutated virus.

Slowly clutching your head, you looked up at her, trying to see if her expression changed. But, from what you could make out that was not going blurry, it hadn't.

Your vision slowly went black as you could feel the faint feeling of falling over...

**********


	6. First Impressions Lead to Deceptions

**********

**Chapter 6:** _First Impressions Lead to Deceptions_

**********

You had awakened to familiar surroundings.

You were laying on a bed...in your room? But how'd you end up here?

But you were in your room. Your closet was to your left; it was one of those ones that had wooden sliding doors made into the wall, and your vanity mirror was to the right of the closet.   
On your left was a dresser, and a window with a small, antique-looking table that stood under it. Next to you was your nightstand that held your alarm clock...which you just realized was going off. Annoyed by the blaring noise, you shut it off in contempt.

Did last night really happen? Or did you dream it?

A little confused, you sat up in your bed and rubbed the sleep from your face to try and wake you up. Then you noticed you were still in your school uniform! "Crap..."

But luckily for you, since you were always a planner, and ALWAYS thought ahead, you had made sure to get one extra when you bought the one you were currently wearing for such a situation. Everyone at school was required to get at least one uniform, and a substitute one for when the right one was in the wash. But you had bought two! Lucky you!

Well, time for breakfast; that's what your stomach was grumbling at you. Now fully awake, you headed out your door, which was straight across the room. Going down a short hallway, you entered the small kitchen on the right; it had a stool counter that faced the giant living room also. Noticing the piece of paper left on the edge of the barren counter, you went to that first. It read:

_"__(y/n)__:_

Your friend from school called me last night, saying you had fainted at the museum exhibit you went to. Luckily I was home, ne?

Anyway, I came and picked you up, and put you to sleep, obviously.

Also, I can't make it to your art school screening today. I'm sorry.

~Dad"

All of a sudden...your chest started to hurt, and your eyes were stinging.

He had promised! He. Had. _Promised_!

He PROMISED he'd make it to your art school screening today! HOW could he let you down AGAIN?! THE BAZILLIONTH TIME IN YOUR LIFE!!

Both of you had planned a month in advance so he could make it, and now he up and outs without even an EXPLANATION?! You wouldn't forgive him this time! You wouldn't! This was the most important day in your life today! Ever since you found out that you'd be moving to the city of Domino, you had applied zillions of times for this art school; "Domino Art Acadmey." It was the best to be offered in Domino, Japan and you had always loved art...always wanted to have something in your career goal that would let you do art.

And THIS was your big chance! HOW could your dad just leave you in the dust?!

You were done with him, you decided. If your dad didn't need you... _support_ you...then you didn't need him, OR anybody else for that matter! It made sense, though. Your dad was never there for you, even remotely half the time anyway...

You were standing there, the darkest look you could ever feel was on your face, and your hands were clenched in raw anger. You were shaking from it coursing through your body so fast...

In a short fit of rage, you screamed, letting out all the excess that your body couldn't harbor as you took out the rest of it on the note your father had left you.

You stopped. Breathing harshly from your screams, you decided to go take a shower before school.

**********

It was now break; the ten minute interval in-between classes.

If you thought that your anger and disappointment had left you once you got out of the shower, you were wrong. You had already snapped at eight people today who had come up to ask you if you were all right. Some of them had even included Yugi and Tea.

You had opted to stay at your desk, moving your body to face the wall while in the chair, your head down, and thinking about how your life was beginning to fall apart.

First, your mother died shortly after your were born. Then your father beginning his 28 hour job so he could keep his mind off your mother's death. Your numerous moves because of his job...

And now, one of the most important parts of your life had come up, and he left you!

Wasn't it considered heresy on some level...?

You were broken out of your thoughts by someone calling your name. "What?" you said rather harshly as you turned around.

It was Yami, with the most sincere look of concern you had ever seen planted on his face.

"Is there something wrong?"

You WOULD have answered him...had it not been the ninth time someone had asked you that within a six-minute period. But, you were determined to be solitary in in your self-pity, because no one would do it for you. Besides, why were these people being so nosy? You would have thought Yami would have been different!

"For the LAST TIME," you spat with so much acidicy that even your breath may have been affected by it. "I, AM FINE! AND I DON'T NEED ANYBODY BUTTING INTO MY LIFE!!! SO GO AWAY!!!"

Before you had realized what you had done, Yami's glare-face was on you. It was just how you thought it would look, if not worse. His eyes weren't just penetrating now; they were drilling, like they were going right through your very being. Yami's nose was scrunched violently, which made you flinch. And you could have swore he growled a bit...

"Look," he began heatedly. "I was only asking for the state of your well-being. Obviously,   
you're sick, or you would know _never_ to speak to _me_ that way!"

Huh? What was with this guy? He sure was acting all high and mighty! It wasn't like he was the Pharaoh of Egypt or something!

"Well, exCUSE me, Mr. Nobility!" you started sardonically. "Besides, if I don't want people to know about my life, then I can tell them that!"

He sneered, closing his eyes and turning his head from you, crossing his arms across his chest; as if he were sick of looking at you in this current situation. "And you also need to apologize for your behavior towards Tea and Yugi, and anyone else you took your frustrations out on. You do not need to act in such away towards undeserving people."

What?! They stepped right into it! It was their own fault! They should have known to leave you alone! "I will NOT! They should have let me be! It's not their problem anyway!"

Yami's eyes shot open, and returned to glaring at you in hostile justice. "So you can suffer alone?! All these people want to do is help you!"

"I don't need any help!" you said, now desperate to get Yami's eyes off of you; trying to let him see that it wasn't your fault. You shifted uneasily, but you were determined to keep your anger.   
"I don't need YOU! I don't need my father! I don't need ANYONE!!!"

You had screamed that last part. And you now noticed that everyone in the room was looking at the two of you...

You saw Yami shake his head in disappointment, his eyes closed. "I can't believe I saved such a selfish being..." Then he turned to glare at you one last time. "Maybe I should have let you _die_!!"

You froze.

The last sentence kept playing over in your mind...

And everything about the way he said it; his drilling glare mixed with the disappoint of who he thought you were...

It had slashed you deep...

As he walked past you, forcefully; it was like you knew he was above you, somehow.

It was because he had said something that had broken you.

Wishing someone to be dead was a serious thing in your book, and you hadn't wished it on anyone yet.

But his eyes...

They had been filled with no doubt that maybe he shouldn't have saved you.

You had fallen to your knees, burying your face in your hands. You weren't crying; you were too shocked that someone who had saved your life, had just meant that he was having more than second-guesses on doing it.

You felt Tea hurry across the room and gather you in a big hug on the floor.  
How'd you know it was Tea? Well, she was the only one brave enough to approach a broken female.

**********

You were waiting just outside the board members room where the screeners of Domino Art Academy were individually interviewing potential students.

For all the hype you recently had about getting in, and as nervous as you should have been, you didn't care. Your day had been too miserable for you to care about this; if everything else had gone wrong, why wouldn't this too?

You had gotten there late, so you were near the end of the very long line of prospective students. Currently, there were five people in front of you, and about ten after you.

The waiting area was in a long hallway, with about a zillion-and-one chairs on either wall of this narrow passageway of a space. It was stuffy and hot, and it was making everyone there irratable. You could overhear many heated conversations.

Suddenly, you heard a small, angelic voice down the hall, who was arguing with the monitor.

"Please! We need to see her!" you could hear it say. "We have to tell her something!"

Looking towards the source of the voice, you saw Yugi trying to get past the monitor.

How did he know you were here? But more importantly, WHY had he come here looking for YOU after you had been such a jerk?

Jumping up and scurrying down the hall (you always felt bad running down hallways of any kind of school-related building), you saved Yugi from the old, terse-looking monitor.

"Um, I'll just speak to them out in the hall for a minute," you stated sweetly. The monitor seemed to keep the dead-pan glare all the same. You smiled and led Yugi down the outside hall a ways.

"Yugi, what's going on?" you queried in confusion. "I don't understand. Why'd you come to see me?"

"Well, last night when Yami called your dad," Yugi explained. "He kept rambling on about how proud he was of you going to your screening today, so we thought we'd find you here."

Your father was bragging about you? But, he never did it in front of you...because you never saw him a lot of the time.

"He also told us how sorry he was that he wouldn't be able to make it," Yugi told you sincerely.   
"So, I offered to come down for him!"

You were truly surprised. And happy.

In fact you were so happy, that you gave Yugi a big hug; it's all you could think about doing. Yugi was just like an angel, you swore it to be so!

"Thank you so much, Yugi! You don't know how much this means to me!"

"So does that mean you'll apologize for your earlier actions?" an all-too familiar voice said.

You let go of Yugi to see that Yami was casually leaning against a wall.

Your mouth dropped. How dare he! How DARE he! ESPECIALLY after what he said!

"I have NOTHING to apologize for!" you told him incredulously. "Especially after that crap you said to me!!"

Yugi sighed reluctantly. It seemed that everything was going downhill now...

**********


	7. The Competition

**********

**Chapter 7:** _The Competition_

**********

You were so ecstatic that you had made it into the academy!!

You had been told upon the end of your interview the other day, and you just wanted to draw, draw, draw! Things that made you feel that happy fueled you to express them in some way!

Yugi and Yami had left once you were called into the office, so you were going to tell them...well, maybe just Yugi and the others...no Yami.

Speaking of that obnoxious... _person_ , you didn't understand why he was so adament on keeping tabs on you, especially if he meant what he said. For example, he was following Yugi everywhere: whenever Yugi and the gang came to see you, or happened to see you, he was there. So, if he hated you so...why was he still hanging around?

Well, that guy had always been a mystery ever since you first met him. But the one thing you were for sure of was that he was a thinker. No doubt in that.

Brushing any thoughts of Yami's perplexing personality from your mind, you stepped into the classroom, and you immediately saw Tea.

"Tea! TEA!" You called in delight. Tea would be the one who could understand your excitement the most, especially since she was pursuing a career in the arts herself. "Tea! Guess what?!"

From your very pleasing face (or it could have been from your bright smile that almost made you look drunk with happiness), she made a conclusion in question form. "You got in, right?!"

"Yeah! I did!" Both of you clasped each others' hands and started prancing around, cheering and laughing.

"All right! That's great!"

"I know!"

You totally missed the strange looks on Joey and Tristan's faces.

"Hey, Joey...," Tristan whispered to Joey, his strange, bewildered, and almost scared face still intact. "Your sister doesn't act like that does she...?"

Joey, still as bothered by the sugary scene as Tristan, answered with a, "No...I don't think-'EY!" Joey suddenly lost all the fear of rabid, happy girls, and shot Tristan a death glare.

"So you sayin' you wouldn't be wit my sister if she acted like dat?! What's wrong wit my sister?!"

"So I CAN be with your sister?!" Tristan went all googly-eyed, then clasped his hands together.   
"Oh! I can see it now! We'll have a big wedding, and we'll invite everyone we know so that I can proclaim my love for Serenity, right in front of ALL of them!"

Joey knocked the starry-eyed, lover-boy into a semi-state of consciousness on the floor. Joey's eye was twitching in anger. "Th' only thing YOU'LL be proclaimin' is a restrainin' order if you EVER think about somethin' like dat AGAIN!"

Of course, THEY missed the part when you and Tea saw the sad spectacle. You just dropped your heads in exasperation.

Suddenly, a very tall and slender, brown-haired boy entered the room. He held the charisma of a mysterious traveler.

"And to what do we owe the visit, Mr. Kaiba?" the teacher responded blandly to his dramatic entrance.

Kaiba only grunted, closing his eyes in disgust as he almost seemed to glide across the room to this seat.

"Who's that?" you asked Tea.

She only pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head. "You don't want to know."

***********

"Watchya doin' dere?" Joey asked while peeking over your shoulder.

It was the break interval.

And Joey Wheeler was bored.

That _always_ meant something bad.

You covered your arms over your sketchbook at lightening-fast speed. "Nothing!"

"Hmmm... nuttin, huh?" Joey said in a most clever way. He took a chair from one of the desks and sat in it backwards (the back against his stomach), and resting his head on his hands, which were held up by the back of the chair. "I heard you got int' dat famous art school...which WHY you would want t' go to another school besides th' one you already got t' go to is beyond me, really." He paused and scratched his head. "But, dat means yer like, really good at drawin' an' stuff, right?"

You giggled a little at Joey's lack of terminology...or was it understanding?

"Yeah, that means I'm good at 'drawin' an' stuff', Joey," you replied.

He smiled, finally getting you to open up. Thus, he attempted again: "So can I see what yer drawin'?"

You smiled back at him.

"No."

His face dropped.

"C'mon! I jus' wanna see it!"

"My art is personal!"

"What's so personal 'bout it? I mean, aren't you becomin' an artist t' show people yer artwork?"

You said nothing, as you knew Joey had actually hit truth.

"So lemme see!" Joey made a mad grab for your sketchbook. Because of the slick desktops, and his mild distraction of getting you riled up, you couldn't get a grip on it before Joey hijacked it from you.

Joey immediately stood after receiving the "stolen" property, knowing you'd be too short to reach it with his hands in the air. "Hmmm... let's see what we got in hea...!" Joey said mockingly.

He held the sketchbook straight in the air, so that when he opened it all he had to do was look up.

You were on your tip-toes, trying desperately to recover your personal artbook; it was like a journal, your sketchbook. You drew whatever came to your mind. So, it was like Joey had a hold of someone's diary here...

"Joey! Stop looking at it!" you said in all sternness, but your jumping body hardly made you look like you were in the position to demand such things. "I'm serious! I don't want you looking at it!"

"Who-HOA!" Joey said overly loud on purpose. "Check th' game shop pic! I think she's stalkin' ya, Yami!"

You quit playing the pleading child for a moment, your hands on your hips, and an angry look on your face. "I did that before I even MET you guys! Besides, I don't stalk!"

Joey leaned down a little closer, to make you even more irate. "S'not what dat blush on yer face is tellin' me!"

Because Joey had leaned down, you had a nice aim at grabbing back your sketchbook.  
Taking the opening like a last resort, you grabbed the end of it and tried to bring it back to you with all the quickness you were capable of.

However, Joey's hands were capable of speeds of up to 'grabbing the last cookie from Tristan' in their never-ending duel at meal-time.

Basically, you were in an all-out war with Joey for getting your sketchbook back.

"Let go!" you snarled. "It's not yours!"

"I just...wanna...see some pics!" He was grunting under the effort of trying to keep it with him. Because you were closer to the ground, you held the weight of gravity over him.

Suddenly, Joey changed tactics and started pulling the sketchbook upwards...fighting gravity head-on.

Typical, bull-headed Joey.

Unable to keep up your grip, the book flew out of yours hands, and as people fight gravity head on; the sketchbook went flying out of Joey's hands as well; it landed clear across the room, albiet sloppily inbetween some desks.

"Now look what you did!"

Joey glared, but it definitely wasn't at you; it was from the direction that the sketchbook had landed at. "Tch! I di'nt wanna see nuttin' no way!" Then he promptly stomped away.

You were highly confused. Why would Joey put up all that fight to see what you had drawn, and then just drop it after it went sailing across the room?

Jeeze! What was with him?

In any case, you made your way to the other side of the room, passing clusters of students who   
were yapping their mouths off like no tomorrow. Crossing through five rows of desks, seven groups of talkers, and weaving through stragglers, you had finally came to your sketchbook.   
You noticed it came awfully close to hitting that guy who had come in earlier; it was right next to his desk.

Picking it up, you asked him, "Um, this didn't hit you, did it?"

No answer.

You would have got mad, but he looked pretty intrigued by what he was doing on his desk. He had out a notebook, and was furiously scribbling down in it; hardly a work of penmanship. But that's when you noticed that he had out THREE Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on his desk (you were unaware of his deck a little distance away)!

"Wow!" you exclaimed softly too yourself. But your voice didn't go undetected. "You have THREE Blue-Eyes White Dragons?!"

He turned to say something to you, his eyes almost narrowing, but you cut him off, "I bet you have THE most powerful deck EVER!"

Kaiba's glare had surprisingly vanished, and he grinned devilishly at the compliment. "You think so?"

"Well, duh! Any newbie knows about the powers of that card!" you said as if he weren't there.   
"And you have THREE! Doesn't that mean you can get the Ultimate Dragon out of them?!"

He nodded when you turned to him. Obviously, he was basking in your compliments.

"GOD! You're so lucky! I can hardly get a hold of a card above six stars!" Suddenly, you asked him, "Can I PLEASE see your deck...?"

He hesitated a moment, and set you a look. He was trying to see if you were trying to make off with it. But after a moment, he just nodded in affirmation.

You could have shrieked in glee.

"Oh my gosh! LOOK at these cards!!" Then, you stopped in your glee, a little humbled by what you saw. "Whoa... I bet you could come up with some killer strategies... Hey, do you think you could teach me how to make my deck better...?"

He seemed apalled by the question, but the only indication was his partially widened eyes. Suddenly, as if you were feeding his ego by asking, he tried to respond... "Well, of cour-"

"STOP! RIGHT! DERE! KAIBA!" It was Joey...with the most dramatic pose of challenege of the century. "You shouldn't be poisonin' th' minds of amateur duelers!" he told him darkly while marching up to the both of you.

"' _Amateur_ '...?!"

Kaiba rose in defiance. "Look, _Wheeler_ : The only amateur here is you! And even YOU make amateurs look bad..." Joey was growling at him. "Besides, this lovley young lady here could not possibly be an amateur if she recognizes the power of _my_ deck!" His voice was dripping in arrogance.

You blinked: what was going on?

"You wanna take dis to th' duelin' field?!" Joey challenged him.

Kaiba looked away in disgust. "I don't have time for monkeys like you..."

"'MONKEY'?!"

"You heard me, Wheeler..."

"Joey!" a stern, and firm voice called from the back of the room. All of you looked over to see   
Yami setting Joey a look that said, 'that wouldn't be the wisest thing to do.'

You were still confused. What was going on? Where was this hostility coming from?!

"C'mon," Joey said while dragging you away by the collar. "You don't need t' be hangin' 'round trash like dat..."

You looked helplessly at Kaiba, wondering what was going on. Kaiba just went back to what he was doing like you had never interrupted him.

**********

Joey, you, Yami, and Yugi were currently walking home from school. The conversation was being volleyed a lot, but you weren't really saying anything in it; just listening. Letting the sound waves from everyone's voices kind of lull you into a nice trance...

It was amazing how safe you were starting to feel in these people's presence. Afterall, you had only met them not even a week ago!

But, you did meet them under extreme circumstances...and you knew that those kind of experiences always elevated relationships. Besides that, it was hard not to like them; because you hadn't really had such people that seemed to be worried about you. You had always moved...

You hoped you wouldn't have to this time.

"What?" you said dumbly.

"I said, what were you doin' talkin' t' Kaiba, anyway?" Joey asked in a condescending fashion.   
"Dat guy's nuttin' but a evil piece of cornstalk if ya ask me!"

"I have to agree with Joey," Yami said sagely. "He's been nothing short of evil ever since we've met him."

"Yeah," Yugi piped in. "He's not the friendliest guy you could meet."

"I don't get it," you said softly. "He didn't seem evil to me. I mean, the way you guys make him sound, it's like he doesn't even bother with people." Then you said, aloud to yourself, "But then, why did he strike conversation with me?"

"DAT'S what I wanna know!" Joey jumped in front of the group, making them stop. "Whadjyou say t' him, anyway?"

"Well, I asked if my sketchbook, _which you threw_ , had hit him," Joey had interrupted you for his two cents.

"I did NOT throw it!" Joey pouted. "You let go of it an' made me lose my grip!"

"LIKE I was saying," you began again, giving him a glare; daring him to interrupt you. "Anyway, after that, I just talked with him about his deck and asked if he could give me some pointers."

"And he just started talking to you?" Yugi queried. He looked sincerely confused about it.

"Who CARES if Kaiba had a mental lapse an' freakishly started bein' nice!" Joey stopped and thought about what he had just. "Well, actually, ya should; because dat means th' world's gonna end..."

Yugi noticed your tense back, and upon closer inspection saw that your eye was twitching; he put a hand your shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," you grounded out. "Just..."

You didn't finish because you thought you heard something.

Yugi caught your eyes in concern.

"Do you...," you walked up a ways down the street, trying to see if you could hear the sound better. "Nothing; it's nothing," you shook your head in a dismissing fashion.

"What? What is it?" Yugi asked. Yami and Joey were brought out of side conversation when they heard Yugi's question.

There was the sound again; it had the sound of hymnic chanting. "THERE! There it is again!"

"Dere WHAT is again?" Joey queried in confusion. "Don't tell me yer a head case too..."

"Joey!" you yelled in frustration. "I'm serious! There's this...ethereal chanting..."

"GEEZE!" Joey pulled at his hair. "I KNEW ya shouldn't have gone an' talked t' Kaiba! Look, he's made 'er start hearin' crazy crap dat his psycho-brain hears!"

"No," Yami said quickly. "I can hear it too..."

"You can, Yami?" Yugi replied.

"Yes, I think I recognize it," he began. "I can't place it, but it sounds familiar..."

"Maybe it has something to do with the Millenium Puzzle! And your past life!" Yugi concluded.

You blinked. "What? You mean it has to do with Yami's necklace? Wait. What do you mean   
'past life'?" You were demanding answers, but no one was answering them. "What's going on?"

"I think it's coming from this way!" Yami said and broke out in a run down the sidewalk. Yugi and Joey followed, and you just kind of stood there blankly.

What the HELL was going...?!

Finally realizing you were being left behind, you started after them.

"HEY! WAIT UP!"

You WOULD find out what that stuff Yugi rattled off meant...

**********


	8. I Thought I Knew You

**********

**Chapter 8:** _I Thought I Knew You_

**********

Because you had stood dumbfounded at all the strange stuff that Yugi was saying, you had fallen behind. And thus, you were barely keeping up with the three boys ahead of you.

Had they forgotten that you had heard the strange chanting too...?

You muttered something dark about boys, when all three of them took off down a random alleyway.

"Gah...," you had to stop a minute to catch your breath; your hands on your knees. "This is no fair... I hate running..."

But you still went ahead running after the guys. However, it was begrudgingly done so.

Making a left, the alley immediately made things darker for you, and you stumbled over some stuff that you didn't want to stop and identify as your eyes were adjusting. At the end, there was one way you could go; right, so you took it.

And that started a big chain of rights and lefts, with only one way to go at the end of the previous alley.

Your eyes lit up, though, as you saw the tail-ends of the guys's uniform jackets; it fueled you to go faster to catch up with them. You weren't going to lose them this time!

But as you turned on that last corner, it was unusually dark, and you crashed into something.

"'Ey! Do ya walk much?!"

Make that someone.

"Eh-heh, sorry Joey," you said sheepishly. He helped you stand just the same.

But as he did so, there was a blinding gold light...but only for a split second. Actually, you were unsure if you had even seen it or not.

Then, you all saw a black ball, about the size of bouncy-ball, appear in the middle of the alley.

It was glowing with a faint light, making the black ball a little visible in the dark alleyway. But the one thing that stood out was the strange eye symbol engraved in the black ball.

"Look!" Yugi proclaimed. "It has the Millennium Eye!"

"Don't tell me it's another Millennium Item," Joey commented sardonically.

"No, Joey. It's not," Yami said curiously. "It doesn't give off the same energy as the Millennium Items."

"Then what is it?" Yugi queried. "Does it have anything to do with the Millennium Items then? It must if it has the same symbol."

You were, for lack of a better word, "freaked" at the fact that you had thought you knew these people... And now they turn around and start talking about some kind of Millennium Items, and going every which way of confusing on you. That and there was a floating black ball in the middle of the alleyway; there was no room for you to speak as your head was going faster than a freight train at the moment.

"'Ey," Joey said, walking up to the floating black ball and poking it as he got close enough.   
"Ain't dis kinda cliche? I mean, runnin' into a dark alleyway cause a some weird noise and we   
find somethin' floating...?"

As if offended, the black ball shocked Joey's wandering finger.

"OW! DAMN! That thing bites!" Joey had been thrown a few feet by the jolt. He brightly got up and went back to the group. "What's it doin' if nobody can pick it up? It's kinda pointless havin' a random flyin' super ball dat nobody can bounce!"

"Joey, I hardly think that's what it's for...," Yugi implied.

"Actually," Yami began in an all-too-knowing fashion, making sure to make eye contact with you. "I think you should try to pick it up."

You HAD registered that comment.

"Excuse me, but... You DID just see what it did to Joey, didn't you?"

"I'm sure you can pick it up," Yami stated simply while keeping eye contact with the ball.

"HELL no!" you began with more spite. "Joey just got fried by that thing! I'm not going to go up and GRAB IT just because you hate me because I snapped at you the other day!"

You heard Joey and Yugi suck in air through their teeth, and cautiously looked at Yami.  
Yami looked straight at you, with the most unwavering glare you had ever seen. But it was so calm...

"I do not hate you...," it was like he wanted to say more about that issue, but something was holding him back. "But you must trust me on this. Please try to pick it up."

Your anger flared. WHY did he think that he could ALWAYS tell you what to do?! And   
HOW did he stay so damn calm?!

Well, you weren't doing this for him, you resolved to yourself. You were going to do it because YOU thought you could pick it up. Not Yami.

With a look of obstinate determination, you headed toward the black ball. As you approached it though, that look left your face, and was replaced with one of apprehension. You didn't want to get barbecued here! And you had every reason to be scared! It could just as easily reject you as it did Joey.

With all the courage you could muster, you shrunk your body back and extended your arm toward it...

And you suddenly felt a cold object in your hand.

No electric shock, no painful demise....

Just a cold, little, black ball.

Suddenly, it made the same flash again, and as quickly as it had come it had gone. It left you with a gold ball of the same size, but this time the engraving was black. Like the colors had switched for some reason...

Then for another weird reason, you started to feel drained. But you shook it off, turning to the others.

"Hey, you okay?" Yugi sounded concerned. "You look a little pale..."

"Yea," Joey popped up next to you. "Ya don't look too good."

To tell the truth, you felt tired...but you didn't want to worry them. They always fussed over you even though they only just met you a week ago... Maybe because you were prone to accidents and trouble?

"Yeah, I'm fine," you managed in the most normal voice possible.

"Cool. Can I see th' bouncy-ball now?" Joey pleaded.

"You'd better not touch it, Joey," Yami turned to leave as he said it. All of you started to follow.   
"It's rejected you and want let you touch it again."

"How can you tell all dat?" Joey exclaimed. "It must be freakin' SWEET t' be an ancient Pharaoh with kick-ass powers!"

"WHAT?" you said in ALL bewilderment. Then, in a very condescending tone you said, "By the way, what's with Yami's necklace and this Millennium Item crap?!"

You had stopped walking, as if it were a rebellion of going any further until you got some answers.

"That's not the point-" Yami tried to get in.

"YES. It is!" you interjected. "I want some answers! What in the WORLD were you guys talking about back there?!"

"Right now isn't the time," Yami told you, eeriely calm.

Since when was he so calm? You'd thought that he would have gotten a little impatient with your impatience from your outbursts. Something was amiss...

They knew something you didn't.

"In any case," Yami had decided that you wouldn't interrupt him anymore, so he continued.   
"The signet you have in your hand is bound to cause trouble if it has the Millennium Eye on it, even if it isn't a Millennium Item."

"But what's tha-"

Joey had stopped you before you had interrupted again; putting his hand in front of your face, breaking your thought train. He gave you a pleading stare, and you could only sigh in resignation.

"Also," Yami continued yet again. "With that fact in mind, you shouldn't be home alone tonight. At least for tonight so we can be sure that no one is after it."

You couldn't let that go; he was dictating what you'd be doing for the next...HOWEVER long because you just picked up a stupid ball?! HELL no! He didn't own you! Besides, he had been acting extremely dominant ever since you blacked out at the museum...

"Look," you pushed past Joey's "defenses." "I don't know _where_ you think you're suddenly coming from, telling me what to do just because I have NO idea what the Hell's going on here!

"In fact, you've treated me like some worthless person ever since what happened at the museum, and I _don't_ appreciate it!" You paused only for a second. "But I _would_ appreciate it if you'd stop trying to take over my life!"

"If you're done," Yami began in condescending spite. Then, "If you recognized the seriousness of the situation, you would understand that you shouldn't be left alone at all."

It was a challenge.

And you gladly accepted it.

"And if you would just _tell me_ what's going on, I would recognize a lot more!"

"As I have said before," he said serenely calm again. "Now is not the right time to discuss it."

He then turned to Yugi and said, "Now, I'm sure Tea can spend the night with her, right?"

Yugi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, as if afraid if he answered at all your anger would be directed toward him as well. "Um, I dunno. I'll have to call her..."

You were physically seething after that battle...

...and you were making Joey edgy.

**********

You had denied, argued, explained, assured, and even begged that Tea didn't have to spend the night with you.

But Yami was quite a stubborn person when it came to protecting people, as you had found out.

Tea had, with all enthusiasm, agreed to spend the night with you. You weren't upset that you had to forcibly spend time with Tea, because, you had no problem with her; it was the fact that   
Yami had arranged it against your will because he was some kind of paranoid jerk.

But! Today was a new day, and since no one came in the night to "kill you and take that weird ball" that you had, you were free from Yami's bonds!

Until someone decided they wanted the ball from you.

You sighed deeply.

Why did trouble always seem to find you? You didn't even go out seeking it, or wish that something amazing would happen to your life. It just happened without it even asking you!

Being so caught up in your musings, you had ran into someone.

Looking up at the tall man passing you, you mumbled a "sorry," but he didn't think anything of it. Actually, he didn't even seem to notice that you bumped into him.

Wait.

Why was he wearing a purple-ish cloak?

Shaking your head at the odd man, you thought nothing more of it. _'Maybe there's some kind of convention today...'_

Of course as Fate would have it, you saw another one across the street, turning down a corner.

Suddenly, you didn't feel that safe walking to school alone.

You tried to shake the bad feeling you were getting. _'Get a hold of yourself! Yami just psyched you out yesterday to get you to "understand"! There's no one following you!'_

You felt a hand grab your shoulder roughly and you screamed.

It was an ear-piercing scream, like someone was jabbing you with something blunt inside your   
ear; the ones that made you shiver when you heard them.

"JEEZE! It's jus' me!"

You turned to see Joey standing before you, a little freaked that you could scream so loudly.

"Oh, Joey...you scared me." You blushed from embarrassment. _'See? There is no one after you!'_

"Obviously," Joey retorted and stuck his finger in his ear, trying to get his ear to stop ringing.   
"Ya know, fer somebody who keeps t' demselves a lot, you sure scream loud..."

"Um, yeah. Let's just get to school." You started walking again, clearly embarrassed by letting your thoughts get to you like that. Joey scurried to catch up.

"Um, you sure yer okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," you told him in an exasperated tone. But then you realized something... "Yami sent you, didn't he," you stated. In actuality, you were kind of glad that he had sent someone...

"Uh, yea."

You sighed again. You didn't mind that Yami was trying to protect you; you were actually flattered by the thought. But he said to only watch you for over night...

So that meant he knew something else.

And he didn't want to tell you.

Well, you'd fix that quick enough.

"Joey...?" you called in a sly voice.

Joey gave you a weird look. Then he replied cautiously. "...Yea...?"

"What does Yami think is after me?"

Joey's face contorted in shock. "Wha...Whaddaya mean? What makes ya think somethin's after ya?"

"Well, Yami sent you to watch me, didn't he...? So that means that he thinks something's after me," you concluded in a logical tone. "So, what is it?"

"Look," he began to pale at your deductive skills. "I ain't got no clue what yer talkin' about!"

"Okay, okay. You can be that way," you returned to your sly grin. "But if you want me to stop probing, and be a good, innocent, and non-inquisitive, little girl, you have to do something for me."

"No way! I ain't doin' nothin'!"

"If you don't do this for me, then I'll make Tea beat you to a pulp."

"No way! I ain't scared a no girl!"

"Hi, Joey."

It was Tea...with the most condescending look of doom on her face directed at Joey.

"'Ey! Dat ain't no fair!" Joey spat incredulously. "I di'nt do nothin' t' you! Why're you in on dis?!"

"Because I want to know what's going on too!" Tea said in her own determined way. "Besides, if you don't do it, I WILL find you Joey. And I WILL show you no mercy!"

"Ugh! Fine!" Joey instantly went to pout mode. "I swear to GOD, you owe me big time Yami..."

***********


	9. Extreme Bonding Through Video Games

**********

**Chapter 9:** _Extreme Bonding Through Video Games_

**********

You had sentenced Joey to...

...buying you ice cream after school!

Hey, you deserved a treat after all this pressure Yami was putting you through!

"One strawberry cone," the vendor said while handing you your ice cream cone. Strawberry was the best!

Joey begrudgingly paid the vendor, mumbling dark things under his breath while doing it. All the same, you and Joey had started walking down the street again.

"Hope you enjoy my well-earned money!" Joey spat.

"It sure does taste good!" you told him brightly, completely oblivious to Joey's contempt.

Although you delighted in the fact that you had actually blackmailed someone, you did feel kind of bad; Joey may have been gullible, but he was a really nice guy. Besides, Joey was one of the few people who could get you to laugh when you were down!

So, you had planned to resolve everything with one simple offer: "Hey, Joey. I do feel kind of bad for using you like that," you said rather truthfully.

"Yea, well, you should!" Joey pouted some more. "I was only lookin' after ya like Yami asked me to!"

You gave a reluctant cluck of your tongue. Yeah, sure he did... You knew Joey well enough to know that he didn't do anything without some type of trade-off.

"I'm sure... Anyway, I was wondering if I could make it up to you."

Joey's face lightened from his dark mood suddenly, albeit a little cautiously. "Yea...? So whaddaya have in mind?"

"How about the arcade?" you offered offhandedly. "My dad felt bad about the whole art screening thing, and tried to make up for it with this." You flashed some yen his way.

"Eeeeeey! Yer startin' t' talk my language hea!"

"Tch, there's no way I could make my brain go down that many IQ points," you said playfully.

"Dat a challenge?" Joey matched your tone.

"You bet it is!"

"Den bring it on! I can whip you any day, an' on any machine!"

"Then I'll race ya there!" And you took off before Joey could register what happened.

"'EY! Dat ain't no fair!" Joey started after you. "An' we're playin' what I want, first!"

**********

"Joey, you couldn't hit the broad side of your big helmet hair," you commented while shooting a zombie square in the...wall?

"What's wrong wit my hair?" Joey stopped and turned to you for a second, glare already put on his face. "Besides, it's YOU who sucks at dis game."

"Yeah, I know." You were never good at first person shooters. You were currently playing Joey's favorite game of the haunted house where you shot all the zombies with little toy guns. "Can we play something else now? Since I suck so much at this one?"

You had played at least eight games of that retarded shooter game. You had also played millions of other games since you had been there; Alley Fighter 2, Soul Paladin 2, Tiikken, and you even went as far as playing that over-rated snow-boarding game, to name a few. All of these were Joey's picks.

"Sure. I guess you can pick one dis time," he said while shrugging his shoulders.

As if you were shopping to buy the perfect thing for someone, you walked around the arcade, trying to find a worthy game to play.

Suddenly, you spotted a large crowd by the dance machine.

"Hope it ain't dat Johnny Stepps character Yuge and Tea told me about," Joey said.

Not even bothering to ask what he was talking about, you lead yourself through the crowd to see what all the commotion was about. As you made your way to the front with Joey behind you, you found that it was a slender, long, blonde-haired girl making the crowd assemble. She had on some little, white tank top, and a jean skirt. She was also styled out in some type of boots. They looked painful playing the game with those on to you...

"Wow, she looks pretty good at this game," you murmured.

The song had ended -- some high-energy techno one -- and the girl stopped in a dramatic pose, like she had performed the greatest thing in her life. She turned to the hooting crowd.

Joey's jaw dropped. "MAI?!"

"Joey?" she replied innocently. "Well, looks like my skill has even captured _your_ lower standards."

"What?!"

"You heard me," she mocked. "There's no way you can beat me at my new infatuation. You can't even walk straight, so how do you expect to beat me with your two left feet?" Mai proceeded with an arrogant laugh for full effect.

You sighed. It seemed that you were beginning to know less and less about these people...

"I can take you ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, and at ANYTHING, Mai!" Joey's brow twitched.

"Well I'd like to see you come up and try," Mai turned her nose up in the air, crossing her arms profoundly. "That is, unless you're too chicken to come up and face me..."

"Yer on!" Joey said while walking up to the platform. "It ain't so hard. All ya gotta do is hit th' pads when th' arrows get t' that place on th' screen!"

"We'll see how easy it is for you, Joey Wheeler."

"It IS easy," Joey assured her. "So you better start worryin' about how yer gonna beat me!"

You sighed again. You hoped Joey could back his talk up...

The song started, and after a few frames the arrows started coming.

Mai was in perfect step with the song. She looked like she had a lot of rhythm outside of this game.

Joey, however, seemed like he was always perpetually off by one beat. You sweatdropped.

"Joey," you called from the sidelines. "Your leg-eye coordination sucks..."

Joey, who was more than a little miffed at the fact that he was losing, spun around to face you, the most crazed look on his face...and he had stopped "dancing."

"YEA?! WELL I'D LIKE T' SEE YOU COME UP AN' TRY DIS!!!"

"Fine! I WILL!"

Joey stepped off the platform in contempt, hoping you'd fail at your claim. You only stepped up onto the platform with determination.

You used up the rest of Joey's song to catch the flow of the game...and you had caught it rather well. As you tried out the rest of Joey's song, you had also watched Mai a little. She had moved where the arrows took her, but kept a sense of "centeredness" on the platform.

After that was over, Mai picked another song.

"Let's see if you have any rhythm compared to Wheeler."

"I heard dat!"

Mai sighed in exasperation and turned to him quickly before the song came on. "You were _supposed_ to!"

Preparing yourself mentally, you got ready for the song...and those arrows. You tried the beat, moving to it and seeing if you could get in sync with the rhythm. Then, the moment of truth: the arrows started.

As you got "perfects" on the first couple of frames of arrows, your confidence grew, and you started to groove to the music! You were having so much fun that you almost didn't know the song had ended!

That is, until the arrows threw you for a loop-de-loop and introduced some radical fourth beats on you. Your last couple of frames were nothing but "boos"!

Mai then turned to you. You were a little down-trodden.

"Not bad," she extended her hand to you. You took it and shook. "But, you're obviously a beginner. Maybe if you come by again sometime I could teach you how to play. However, I don't think there's any hope for Joey..."

You turned to Joey when Mai looked at him and saw him in everything but a fit of boiling anger!

"Well, I got to go," Mai proclaimed, looking at her watch. "Some pesky dueler I promised to beat!"

She kissed her two fingers and offered them in a peace sign, winked, and then hurried off.

***********

After finally getting Joey out of his pouty mood, you both had decided it was time to leave and get home.

"I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself, Joey," you were trying to offer him some support after what happened. He seemed so angry.

"Who said I di'nt enjoy myself?" Joey became cheery again. "Mai's jus'... Anyway, you ain't got nuttin' t' be sorry for. I DID enjoy myself!"

You smiled. "I'm glad. But, are you really going to tell me why Yami keeps wanting me watched over...?"

"I'm not really sure myself," Joey said sincerely. "He hasn't told me th' whole story, but, I gotta say, Yami's been really edgy ever since you blacked out at th' museum."

"Really?"

"Yea-"

"Joey?"

Both of you looked back at a boy, taller than Yugi from the look of him...and he had white hair?

"Oh, hey, Ryou!" Joey waved to him. "Long time no see, man!"

"Yes, it has been a long time," the boy said softly while taking the welcome and coming closer. You weren't sure if you liked him coming closer... He made you very uneasy.

"Who's this?"

He looked straight at you, his dark eyes boring into your own. They weren't glazed over...they just seemed dull. It was enough to make you shiver!

"Oh, dis is __(y/n)__," Joey replied for you. "She moved hea almost a week ago."

So to not offend him, you accepted his extended hand.

"I'm Ryou," he offered in his soft voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Well, he was polite enough. "You too," said said with a smile.

You moved closer to Joey as you continued to walk home.

***********


	10. Surprising Actions

**********

**Chapter 10:** _Surprising Actions_

**********

You yawned as you exited the bathroom. You had now been freshly showered, groomed, and were now ready to eat!

You yawned again, having not had slept well the night before. There was a foreboding nagging in your stomach the whole night. That meant no sleep for you...

Oh well. You could always just go to bed earlier tonight. You couldn't go back to sleep once you were awake; it was just how your body worked. You thought it was weird.

It was Saturday, and fortunately, there was no Saturday School this week. However, next week you wouldn't be able to say the same thing.

Nothing had really happened Friday, besides your blackmailing Joey and then making it up to him. Kaiba hadn't been at school, but then again, you found out that he ran his own business.   
That fact amazed you, and Yami didn't really like your reaction to that piece of information.

It had just been a normal, boring school day. The day before the weekend was always like that. Kids would just begrudgingly hope that the day would end sooner while almost going unconscious in their chairs.

There was nothing for you to really do today. So, you decided after you dressed into some of your favorite shorts and T-shirt, that you would settle in for a long day at your home, working on your art.

Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

Maybe make a cup of hot tea, too!

Gathering your art supplies from your school bag in your room, you headed to your small kitchen to make some hot tea. Rummaging through one of your cabinets, you found the lemon-flavored tea packages. You set the kettle on the burner and went to sit down on the lounge chair your father had bought recently.

That is, you were going to do that until someone knocked on the door.

Sighing in reluctance, you put down your art things in the lounge chair and made your way to the door.

Upon opening it, there was a body shoved into your home, and the door was shut abruptly after. You recognized the body standing up and brushing itself off. Besides that, he was wearing his black outfit again.

Was it his favorite thing to wear...?

"Yami...?"

"Please, don't ask...," Yami said, degraded. "In any case, they wanted me to come here and talk to you."

"About what?" you asked absently and going to check on your boiling water kettle.

Yami didn't note your casual tone as an indication to come in.

"Actually," he began, pausing for a second.

Did he suddenly sound humbled...?

"I came here to apologize to you about my behavior as of late."

About _damn_ time!

"What do you mean?"

You were pretty sure he could sense that you were toying with him about this, and he didn't appreciate it. His voice took on a small tone after growling a bit.

"For what I said, the other day... I... I didn't mean it. I was angry at how you were treating the others, and I snapped. So, I apologize."

He suddenly found the carpet interesting.

"Oh, that," you said as you looked towards his form. "Actually, I forgave you for that after I realized how retarded I was really being."

His head raised to look at you, but then you turned away to escape his gaze, looking through the cabinets for a mug.

"Now I'm just upset with your dominant streak," you told him honestly. "I mean, really, where do you get off?"

He made a stifled, angry noise.

"I'm doing it for your own good," he told you simply. You knew him well enough by now that that tone was hiding some frustration behind it. "If you could only understand the situation you are in--"

You put your hands on your hips, now gawking at him in utter frustration. "Well, if you'd just stop copping out and _tell_ me, I would know!"

"I'm not at liberty to say!" Yami yelled back, letting out some of his frustration. "You have to understand that it's as frustrating for me as it is for you!"

"I _highly_ doubt that!"

Suddenly, the kettle whistled annoyingly, and in your fit of frustration as you went to get it, you picked up the *metal* handle and burned your hand.

"Dammit!"

The kettle went to the floor, and you shook your hand to cool it off. You made your way to the sink to run some cool water over the burn when Yami had appeared by your side.

"Are you okay?" he asked from behind you. His breath on your neck reminded you of the close proximity and it became distracting.

"Yes...I'm fine," you bit out, irritated.

"Here, let me see it...," he tried to reach for your hand as he moved directly to your side, but you shrugged him off, finally leaving and going to a lower cabinet of the kitchen to grab some of the dish towels to sop up the now luke-warm water on the floor.

You threw all the towels in there on the floor, hoping that they would just soak up the whole mess without you having to get on your hands and knees. Analyzing the situation, you knew you'd have to go get some towels...

Hopping up from your spot, you started towards the closet in the hall, where the towels were. However, Yami stopped you, grabbing your arm.

"Let it be," he told you sternly. "Now let me see your hand."

He was obviously done with your attitude, and you were just too frustrated to do anything right now, so you obliged.

"Now where is your first aid kit?"

"In the cabinet, under the sink, to your right," you said, distracted.

He led you back to the outskirts of the kitchen counter, and he went to get the kit. Finding it easily, he came back to the side of the counter that you were on.

You were both seated at a stool, and Yami opened the kit that he had layed on the counter in front of him, getting out the burn salve and the gauze.

You shoved your injured hand at him in embarrassment, looking the other way.

He worked quietly, noting your embarrassment although he said nothing about it. You felt him put the burn salve thickly on your whole hand after inspection, and start wrapping your hand in gauze. First he did your fingers individually, to keep the healing skin from attaching to itself, and then he worked on protective layers of gauze around your whole hand.

When he was done, you still didn't look his way. You looked down, bringing your hand to your lap to inspect his handy-work.

It was perfect. It was absolutely perfect...

"There is another reason why I came here," he said, hoping the bait would get you to look up.

You didn't. So he continued.

"The others...and I," he seemed to correct himself. "We wanted to invite you on our Saturday outing."

You looked at him neutrally, and even though his eyes still had that penetrating look, you could have sworn you saw hope... Hope of what, you didn't know.

"Um, sure. I'd like that," you said softly.

That's when you knew you had made the mistake of looking in his eyes. His eyes were penetrating and made you uncomfortable, but for some reason it didn't seem to be his normal one...

Suddenly, you broke out of your reverie. "Well, let me go get my purse, and I'll be right back!"

Flashing out of the room and into your own, you released a huge sigh as you closed your door.  
You had suddenly began to feel uncomfortable once you looked into Yami's eyes, and you just _had_ to get out of there to breath for a minute!

Wait.

Could...could you feel your cheeks growing hot...?!

**********

All of you were sitting at the local burger joint having lunch.

Everyone was talking, laughing, and general just having a good time as they were eating their meals.

Everyone, that is, except for you.

You had a bad habit of zoning out while you ate. Well, you constantly thought; it was one of the reasons why you never got a good nights sleep a lot of the time.

Right now, you were currently thinking about that odd gold ball in your pocket.

What did it mean? Why were you the one who could touch it? Possess it? What was it for? Who was after it? Why did Yami think--

"Hey, you okay? You looked kind of out of it..."

It was Tristan.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," you waved Tristan off.

You had assumed that Tristan's comment had gotten the attention of everyone else at the table because they were all looking at you with concern.

"You haven't really touched your food," Tea commented. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Of course I am," you rubbed the back of your head sheepishly. "I've just got a lot on my mind with school and the art academy and things...!"

Well, it wasn't a lie... You really did have a lot of things on your mind. Actually, you were fine until Yami showed up and made you start thinking about everything that had happened since you met him.

You made eye contact with everybody to assure them, but when you reached Yami, it was like you knew that _he_ knew that you weren't really telling the truth. You quickly turned away.

"What th' Hell's HE doin' hea?!" Joey asked more to himself, but everyone heard him say it.

"What? Who is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.

Everyone looked in the direction that Joey was looking. It was Seto Kaiba, and there was also some little kid with him that you didn't recognize.

"Looks like he's just taking Mokuba out for lunch," Tristan narrated.

"Dat don't make 'im any more welcome," Joey seethed.

Tea kicked Joey from under the table. He gave an audible "ow!"

"Calm down, Joey," Tea reasoned. "He hasn't done anything that we can burn him for yet. Besides, he's probably just here to show his little brother a good time."

"Tea's right, Joey," Yugi agreed. "He's probably not here to start anything with us if he has Mokuba here with him."

"'Ey, ey, ey, ey, EY!" Joey pointed out. "Trouble's comin'!"

"Keep your voice down, Joey!" Tea scold-whispered. "Act civil, will you?"

Tea and Joey exchanged rebellious glares as Kaiba approached. He had already set down his order and obviously told Mokuba to stay at their table.

As he did approach, everyone at the table had pensive, and condescending looks. Kaiba only glared. Then, he looked down at you.

"__(y/n)__," he said, as if calling you to attention.

He then did some fancy movement with his wrist, and you saw that he was extending you a Duel Monsters card.

Taking it out of his hand in care/caution, you flipped it over to reveal which card it was.

"Whoa...," you breathed softly. "Gyakutenno Megami..."

It was a six-star card. The attack was at 1800 and defense was a whopping 2000.

You looked up to Kaiba in amazement, and back at the card, and then back to him...and then back at the card. You repeated the cycle until you got the words out of your mouth, "But...this is a six star card! I can't accep--"

"It's yours," Kaiba spoke non-discerningly. It seemed like he didn't want to say much else with the others around.

You looked to the others, as if asking for some acceptance, and you noticed Yami's drilling gaze...

...aimed at _you_.

And if Yami's contorted face was any warning to keep your words to a minimum, you were going to do so. But you weren't going to be rude just because Yami warned you about this guy being trouble! If anything, he was just the opposite to you!

You looked up and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, Kaiba!"

Joey could hold back no longer. "Whadda you up to?"

That was all the trigger Kaiba needed to let out more that he wanted to. " _I_ do not have to explain myself to the likes of you! Much less to be in your presence!"

Then he left with a dramatic whip of his long jacket.

"Okay, that was weird," Tristan commented. "Definitely something new...but weird."

You wanted to jump up and down for the card Kaiba just gave you, but Yami's face was forcing you to re-think that decision...

**********

After getting out of the tension in the burger joint, you had all decided to go to the park for a game of Duel Monsters.

Actually, that's what everyone said they were going to do. They actually wanted to use this time to let you get to know the group better and to explain Yami and the Millennium Items.

"Okay, let me get something straight," you began a little befuddled. "You, found this box thing... And it turned out to be some kind of puzzle that you put together?"

They all nodded, but you were looking at Yami and Yugi from your seat on the park bench.   
Joey and Yugi were also sitting with you. The others were standing.

"So, when you completed that...you got...Yami, who took over your body--"

"No, no," Yugi interjected. "Our souls created a bond."

"Right," you said unbelievingly. "Anyway, Yami was a 5,000 year-old dead, pharaoh spirit... But because of that _other_ box thing he's alive now?"

"Yes. Isis told me that I had been restored to my current state before I saved the world 5,000 years ago," Yami said.

"Wait," that was a new piece of information. "Stop introducing new stuff like I _know_ what you're talking about!!"

"Isis also owns a Millennium Item," Tea helped. "That night at the museum Yami went to talk to her."

You remembered the museum...but, had you seen her? There was no one in the museum except...!

"Hey, was she that lady who knocked me out?!"

"You weren't allowed to hear the conversation at the time," Yami informed. "However, she didn't tell me what she was going to do with you..."

" _Wait_ a minute... So why are you telling me this now...?"

"If we told you any sooner, Isis' prediction would have turned out different."

You sighed in exasperation. Forget it! You weren't asking anymore questions. You had the jist of it, you didn't need anymore...yet.

"But we did have some problems with--" Tristan began.

"Hey, Ryou!" Yugi greeted.

Ryou was coming down the sidewalk of the park, and just noticed you all.

"Hey, everyone," he greeted shyly. "What're you doing here?"

You mentally slapped yourself. How could you have thought that such a nice boy was evil the other day?!

"Oh, ya know," Joey answered. "Jus' gettin' ready t' play some Duel Monsters."

"Really? Can I play too?"

"Sure!" Yugi seemed excited that all of his friends were here with him.

However, you looked at everything like you weren't really there. Like the whole picture seemed surreal...

...And you shouldn't have been there.

This was something they had before you came along, and, you felt like you were suddenly being pushed aside...

_'But that's odd,'_ you reasoned with yourself. _'Why did I start thinking this when Ryou came along...?'_

"__(y/n)__," Yami called softly from behind you now. The rest of them had already left. You looked up to see Yami standing over you.

"Are you feeling okay...? You've been acting strange all day."

"I'm fine," you assured him, but it was more like you were trying to assure yourself. "I just got caught up in my thoughts is all."

"Well, c'mon. They've already left us behind."

Brushing off all the thoughts you had before, you left with Yami to catch up with the others.

***********


	11. Trust Your Gut

**********

**Chapter 11:** _Trust Your Gut..._

**********

You were currently waiting for Joey to pick you up at your place.

The gang had invited you to Yugi's house on Sunday to have a look through some of Yugi's grandpa's older cards to make some decks. You, of course, had agreed because you were looking for anyway to better yourself at the game.

You sighed as you slumped down in the lounge chair in the living room.

Joey was going to the hospital first to check on his sister, so he said that he might run a little late.

Of course, he was an hour late already.

Well, that was Joey for you, but you knew he wouldn't forget about you. You knew Joey always talked rough, but on the inside, he wouldn't let anyone he cared for down. Besides, you could be lenient. After all, his sister _was_ in the hospital.

Sighing wistfully, you pulled the gold ball out of your jean pocket to examine it.

You wondered what in the world the thing was for anyway--

There was a knock on the door.

"Finally!" you breathed in exasperation as you jumped up from your seat.

Hurrying to the door, you hastily shoved the gold ball back into your jean pocket as you opened the door to find...

"Ryou...?"

He was just standing there with the most blank look on his face, like he wasn't aware of where he was.

What was he doing here? Did Joey send him because he couldn't come to get you...?

"Hey, where's Joey?" you queried, but it was more like you were trying to get Ryou to snap out of his semi-state of consciousness. "Did he send you to come get me inst--!!"

You stopped talking when you saw Ryou's eyes change, but you had also stopped talking when he shoved you to the ground.

Stunned, you asked from the ground, "What the _hell_ are you doing, Ryou?!"

Ryou walked over to you, now hovering above you. That's when you noticed something odd about him.

His eyes...weren't Ryou's.

They were sharper, and they had an unmistakable glint for...evil.

No; this couldn't be Ryou...

"I am NOT that pathetic Ryou!" he told you forcefully.

Then, a little softly, maliciously even, " _I_ am Bakura."

Bakura then hauled you up roughly by one of your upper arms, and he shook you violently as he demanded, "Now, you will _give me_ that Signet..." His voice was low and dangerous, but you tried to not let it bother you.

You winced when Bakura tightened his already tight grip somehow, when you didn't answer him right away.

"Ow! I don't know what you're talking about!" you managed through clenched teeth.

Yami and the others had told you not to say anything to anyone else about it, or give it to anyone either. And even though this "Ryou" was a friend, you definitely didn't trust him now!

Bakura's eyes narrowed sharply; he didn't like your answer.

Suddenly, he started moving you backwards slowly. He was probably trying to pysche you out by making you feel trapped.

Tch! Like you didn't already feel trapped in the safest place you could have been!

You were currently in your own home, where you were being attacked by some guy you _thought_ was your friend; how much more trapped could you feel?!

"You will give me that Signet...," he paused as you hit the wall. He quickly pinned your shoulders to the wall with the force of his hands. "... _or I will force it out of you_!!!"

You flinched at the proximity of his loud voice. You closed your eyes to make it easier to find your voice.

"I don't have it!!" you yelled back.

He smirked malignantly.

"Ah, so you _do/i > know what I'm talking about...?" He was back to his dangerous tone. "Well, I suppose you should tell me where it is; it'll make it a lot easier on you--"_

"NO! I DON'T HAVE IT!!" you dared to scream at him.

You didn't have time to see his eyes narrow at you again; not at the speed he let go of your shoulders and choke-slammed you into the wall.

You gagged at the rough treatment your throat just endured, but he didn't let you have enough air to gag as he was screaming in your face.

" _Don't_ play with me, _girl_!!!" he screamed. "I _know_ you have it! I can feel it's aura all around this room!"

He tightened the grip on your throat, making you squirm to get out of his hold, and you were gagging again as well. Your hands had latched on to his arm as your eyes squeezed shut.

Bakura laughed maliciously in a throaty chuckle; he was enjoying your futile efforts.

You could tell that your face was probably extremely red by now; it felt like the end of the skin on your face was bursting it was tingling so bad.

You were trying to fight him, trying to be able to breathe again, but he was way too strong for you. You could feel your rebellious limbs growing tired from lack of oxygen and overuse. Your body was becoming so sluggish; it was amazing that you were still conscious...

"So...," Bakura began in seductive evil. "Will you tell me now?"

You squirming violently under his arm by now, but it was in spastic spurts because you were beginning to grow tired.

How were you supposed to answer him? He had you gagging from not breathing! You didn't have time to waste precious oxygen on talking!

"No...?" Bakura began in mock-hurt. "Well, it looks like I will have to try other methods..."

Suddenly, his rough hand had released your throat, and you slumped to the ground in a coughing fit, holding your abused neck.

Your head was beginning to pound painfully from lack of oxygen, and you were faintly aware of your surroundings; not really caring about anything besides sucking in precious air.

Then, you were aware of some odd gold necklace being put on you; it was huge! It was this giant gold ring with these other things attached to the bottom of it. But as soon as he let go of it, the air was crackling around you.

"Damn!" you heard Bakura seethe.

You screamed in pain.

And what a horrible pain it was.

You were soon to find out that the crackling energy around you was streaming _through_ you! It had the odd sensation of someone puncturing you whenever the energy would waver, but there was no blood... It just like someone was impaling you, and then the white-hot pain would run the length of your blood stream, and make it feel like your heart was trying to pump more blood to the abused area.

Your whole body felt like it was on fire, but there was no way you could put it out. You hugged your self as you fell against the wall behind you on your knees, hoping that the action would ease some of the pain...

It didn't.

You screamed again as a final surge ran through you.

Finally, it had stopped.

You were aware that it stopped, but suddenly you felt vertigo kick in and you fell over to the side, completely wiped out by the extreme experience.

You saw Bakura come over and take the necklace back from where you lay, but before he got back up, he rolled you over and started checking your pockets.

When he was done, he took you roughly by the upper arm again, and said in a very low, threatening tone, "If you tell anyone about this, I _will_ kill you..."

Bakura shoved you back to the floor and went out your door.

As soon as he was gone, you let yourself blackout.

**********


	12. Acting is Living

**********

**Chapter 12:** _Acting is Living_

**********

You awoke with a feeling of dread.

No, it was nausea.

Trying to get your vision to clear from blur, you shifted pathetically on the floor. You lifted your head to check your surroundings; you didn't know why, it just felt like the thing to do when you first came to. You had a bad headache and it was more-than-definitely making it difficult to concentrate.

Slowly, you lifted yourself up by your arms; you didn't want to fall over again by going too fast.

Looking at the clock on top of the television in the living room, you estimated that you had been out for at least a half hour after Ryou came...

The Signet!

With adrenaline starting to pump through your tired veins, you fished through your jean pockets hastily.

But you found nothing.

No... He must have took it with him. You groaned. What were you going to tell the others?

...Yami? He'd be so disappointed...

*BANG BANG BANG*

"'Ey! Open up!"

It was Joey...and you groaned again.

Cautiously, you got up, making sure not to exert yourself too much for fear of feeling vertigo again.

But as soon as you were on your feet, you went straight down again.

"Dammit," you cursed silently.

Well, there was no way you could hide this level of fatigue. Oh well...

"It's open, Joey!" You immediately regretted yelling when your head had a dizzy surge.

Joey came in roughly. "I've been standin' out there fer th' past fifteen minutes! I was beginnin' t' think--!!"

Joey rushed to your side upon seeing you by the wall. You weren't trying to get up.

"You okay? What happened?" he queried vivaciously, extending his hands for you to grasp.

You were going to tell Joey what happened until a familiar threat ran across your mind...

_"If you tell anyone about this, I **will** kill you..."_

"Oh yeah," you tried to sound confident. "I just got this really bad headache, and I started to feel really tired."

Joey helped you to the lounge chair in the living room. You were beginning to get some of your strength back. Joey sat neighboring you in the love seat.

"You sure yer okay...?"

Joey looked kind of scared, not in his face but you could tell from his fidgeting that he was at least nervous. And it did make you feel bad, but you couldn't tell him. Not when..."Ryou" knew where you lived. Your fear of him finding out you squealed over-road your shame.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I think I just had a sugar crash or something. I get really bad sugar crashes, especially when I don't eat. In fact, I don't think I ate anything this morning..."

Your words had been put together really fast, and Joey raised an eyebrow at you.

"Well, we don't have t' go to Yuge's, I mean, I'm not gonna make ya go if you ain't up t' it," Joey offered sincerely.

"No, no, no," you ushered in return. "I said I'd go! I mean, as soon as I get something in my stomach I'll be okay, really."

Joey looked at you like he didn't think it was a good idea, but he obliged.

**********

As soon as you had gotten something into your stomach, you felt your strength return, and you and Joey made your way to Yugi's place. However, Joey insisted you wear a jacket.

But you were still feeling the affects of Bakura's assault on your body, especially after the long walk to Yugi's. Of course, you wouldn't let that hinder your cover.

Upon entering the game shop with Joey, you tried to put a normal face on.

Tea, Tristan, Yugi, and Yami were sitting at the table, with two other empty ones; it was the one you sat at when you first met Yugi...and Yami. It looked like they had found some other chairs.

When you entered, everyone looked up at the chime of the game shop door.

You were expecting them to comment on how pale you looked...

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Tristan inquired.

You let out a mental sigh. Well, at least you didn't look that bad anymore.

You looked at Joey as he made eye contact with you. You were hoping he wouldn't tell them...

"...Nuttin'," he complied with your request. "Jus' got held up at th' hospital longer than I expected."

You followed Joey to the two empty seats at the table.

You sat between Joey and Tristan, Tristan between you and Tea, Tea between Tristan and Yugi, Yugi between Tea and Yami, and Yami between Yugi and Joey.

"So, like I was saying," Yugi said, pointing to some cards on the table. "Your deck could use some stronger fairies, Tea. Maybe the Spirit of the Harp? It has great defense."

"Yea," Joey got into the conversation right away. "Dat way you could stall for th' effects of your lesser cards!"

"Exactly, Joey!" Yugi commended.

Suddenly, you felt eyes on you...

...they belonged to none other than Yami.

When you made eye contact with him, he said, rather loudly as if to announce his actions, "__(y/n)__, there's a card I would like to show you; it's in the back room."

You hesitated. That look in his eye meant something else... He didn't want to show you anything.

"Um...okay...," you rose slowly from your seat and followed Yami behind the cashier counter.

"Alright _Yami_!" Joey called. "Ya gonna finally play kissy-face wit' 'er?!"

Joey's head was suddenly flattened to the table by Tristan.

"Heh, heh... Don't mind Joey! He's just delirious from being a grade-A moron!" Tristan ushered you both along.

"Really, Joey," Tea scolded in her usual way. "You have _no_ tact!"

You sweatdropped, but still followed Yami into the backroom just the same.

Yami opened the door and let you enter first. Then he entered himself and closed the door quietly behind him.

The room was actually quite small, but you concluded it was probably because of all the boxes in the room.

"I know you didn't want to show me a card, Yami," you said softly.

It was like you were afraid of talking too loud because it was so quiet in the room. You fixed your gaze on the floor, and began fidgeting with the jacket Joey told you to put on before you left your house.

"I want to know what's going on."

Yami's voice seemed to fill up the whole room without even trying; it was _that_ firm and strong.

"I saw the exchange between you and Joey."

Well, you hadn't really expected for Yami to let your condition go without notice. He was too keen an observer. But you tried to redirect him anyway.

"Nothing happened. Joey was just late picking me up," your voice was extremely small because you wanted to tell Yami so much! You wanted to tell him everything! Yami was a very strong person...

"You're lieing," he said simply. It wasn't said in a condescending manner; it was more like he said it softly but sternly...like he knew there was a raging storm of emotion wrecking havoc on the inside of you.

You still didn't look up to face him...if you did, you knew you'd break down. You were so tired, and you didn't want to be the only one carrying this astronomically heavy burden. If you looked into his eyes...

Yami's eyes had to be the most powerful part of him; they had the power to make you feel anything.

"Nothing...happened," you said as your throat began to form a hard knot in it. Your breathing was elevating in the slightest way... You wanted to cry, to just let everything out. And it was so hard to keep yourself from doing it, because even if Yami was an over-protective jerk-face in your book...you felt the safest around him.

So much had happened in the past week...it felt like a whole three years of your life had gone by, it really did. You felt as close to the people in this building as you did to your father; probably more.

"Something happened," Yami stated a little more softly this time. "Otherwise, you'd be able to look me in the face and tell me. You're never this reserved with me, or the others... I _know_ something's happened."

You didn't speak; you couldn't. He knew, and you wanted to tell him. The only way you could say "yes" was by not answering. Not answering meant that you couldn't deny it, and Yami would know. Besides, your throat hurt a lot by this point from holding in your tears.

"You can tell me...," Yami offered sincerely.

Immediately after Yami said those words, you looked up to face him slowly...your eyes began to sting painfully, and silent tears ran down your cheeks.

"You can't," your voice sounded so pathetic and broken to you, and from Yami's face, you could tell he was appalled by the state you were in as well. But he didn't show it to extremity; just wide eyes...

"You can't, Yami...you can't...," you mumbled pathetically as you slumped to your knees, hugging yourself with your arms.

You could hear it running through your mind...

_"...kill you...kill you...KILL you...kill you...kill **YOU**...!"_

You could hear Yami slowly making his way towards you. But you were beside yourself in emotional confusion...

"I can't what?" he asked, now regaining his own composure. "What can't I do...?"

Suddenly, your emotional lid flew open.

"I can't tell you because if I do he'll _kill_ me! He said he would! And I can't tell you!" your voice was muddled by sudden, overwhelming tears, and your stuffy nose. "I swear he said it Yami! I really want to tell you, I _really_ , really do! But I can't! He'll kill me, killme, killme, killme..."

You were mumbling the words into absurdity, into pure hysteria...

...but Yami obviously wanted to fix that.

For some odd reason...beyond your understanding for this very overwhelming situation for you...Yami had gathered you into a hug.

He was behind you, and he bound you with his own arms, around your own, which you refused to let go of your own self, and he hugged you. His head was resting on your shoulder against your head.

You hadn't realized that you were cold until Yami had bound you to him, and his warmth rushed through you, making you relax instantly. The fear, hysteria, welling of emotions...they seemed to leave your body, almost like they were evaporating under Yami's warmth.

When you had calmed, he finally spoke very gently to you.

"I won't force you to tell me," he began so softly it almost lulled you to sleep, "but I want you to know...that I will be here for you, and that I won't let anyone harm you. I've made a promise to protect you."

You felt so at ease, that the strangeness of his words didn't affect you at all. All you knew was that Yami said he'd protect you...protect you from Bakura, and you couldn't help but to feel better; to feel wanted...to feel like you should exist.

"Th-thank you, Yami," you answered shakily after a long while.

**********


	13. Trust and Trial

***********

**Chapter 13:** _Trust and Trial_

**********

Both of you stayed in that exact position for quite a while.

It was like Yami was trying to feel out what you couldn't tell him by the easing silence that had come over the room...

Of course, this silence was broken very soon when there was a loud *BANG* of the front door of the game shop.

You and Yami immediately jumped up and exited the room to see what the commotion was.

You both saw Tea, Tristan, Yugi, and Joey on their feet, almost poised for attack. You wondered why...until you saw who had come in the door.

"WHERE THE HELL IS BAKURA?!!" Kaiba roared in demand. He was gripping his suitcase to try and keep his anger from streaming him into a mad rage.

You involuntarily flinched when he said that name...

"What th' Hell do ya need t' know dat for?" Joey asked, full of arrogance.

"He's not here, so leave!" Tea added in spite. "You're not wanted here!"

"Exactly," Tristan joined in as well. "How dare you show your face here again!"

Kaiba's glare increased ten-fold, and he was literally seething. "I'm not here to steal any of your _pathetic_ cards!"

"Then what are you here for?" Yugi asked sternly. You didn't think he was capable of such a tone.

Turning to Yugi, it looked like he was livid at the fact that Yugi had the audacity to speak in his presence.

"That... _maggot_ tried to steal one of _my_ cards! And he will _pay_ for it!"

Yami suddenly took this chance to get himself in the "conversation." And as always, he as bold and as arrogant as ever.

"It wouldn't happen to be an Egyptian God Card, would it...?" It was like he was mocking him.

You would have thought that Kaiba would have turned to Yami and let him have a glare with the intensity of burying him alive. But he came off...pleased?

"Perceptive as ever, _Yami_ ," Kaiba smirked in pleasure. "I'm sure you know about everything that's going on, don't you?"

Yami only crossed his arms profoundly over his chest, and closed his eyes in confidence.  
And he would have spoke, had it not been for a bone-rattling explosion right outside the game shop.

Everyone rushed outside to see people running away screaming in the terror of the sudden noise, but there was no fire, no smoke...

...but there was someone standing in the middle of the street...

...in a purple cloak.

You involuntarily gasped in realization.

He looked like those other guys that you thought were following you the other day!

"'Ey, is it jus' me...," Joey started. "Or does dis guy remind ya of dem cheap figurines ya get in kids meals?"

"So, you mean they based those things off of this guy...," Tristan seemed disappointed. "What a rip off! This guy doesn't even look like he could imitate karate-chop action!"

"Would you two idiots quit goofing off?" Kaiba remarked in annoyance.

The cloaked figure seemed to stressmark.

"Give...me...the Signet!" the cloaked figure rasped out in anger.

"What's he talking about?" Tea queried.

"Do you still have it?" Yami asked you.

You refused to look at him, only gulping hesitantly and looking straight at the cloaked figure instead. Semi-boldly, you said, "I...I don't have it!"

"Silly girl," the cloak rasped out again; this time mocking the tone of being cross. "Of course you still have it."

The others were too confused to say anything, and you had suddenly been taken aback yourself by the claim.

"No, I don't!" you told him. You hesitated a little, but Yami was there beside you, so you felt safe enough to say, "Bakura took it! He stole it from me!"

Yami made his way in front of you, looking down at you with piercing eyes, indicating that he had pieced together what you were so upset about. "Was this what you were trying to tell me?"

You looked down, escaping his penetrating gaze. You said nothing.

Yami would have probed more, but the cloak decided to laugh maniacally.

"Girl, you really are amusing," he stated maliciously. "Bakura didn't get anything. When he put his Millennium Ring on you, it's power reacted with the ring. As a result, the Signet absorbed into your body."

"...what?"

"He only made you think that he took it," the cloak announced profoundly. "We only wanted to keep you quiet until we could strike!" He paused to take in the look on everyone's faces. "Now, give me the Signet!"

"How can she give it to you if you just said that it was absorbed into her body?" Tea questioned boldly.

"Mind you, we have our ways of extraction," the cloak informed. "However, we can do this one of two ways: you can hand over the girl quietly, or...you may duel me."

There was a glint in his eyes when he proposed the challenge.

"I gladly accept your challenge!" Yami announced.

"Oh no, you see, since she," the cloak pointed to you, "is the owner of the Signet, she must duel me to keep what's her's."

"Well, we're not going to just hand __(y/n)__ over to you without a fight!" Yugi told him.

"Then she must be the one to duel me," the cloak reasoned evily. "It wouldn't be right for someone else to battle for what's her's."

Yami was growling in frustration. " _Fine_! She will duel you!"

"What?! But, Yami! I can't--"

"Yes, you can," he told you sternly. "Now is not the time to not believe in yourself, or in your deck."

"But I just started playing two weeks ago! He probably has way more experience than I do!" you argued.

Yami sighed in realization. Experience was a problem...

"That is true," he began sagely. "But I'm confident that you can win. You have great potential. All you have to do is put your heart in your deck, which, I know you already have. But you must trust your deck."

You sighed in reluctance. "Alright, I'll try."

Yami put his hands on your shoulders as if he was teaching you. "Just focus on beating him; don't think about anything else. If you just focus on the cards, you won't be side-tracked into losing."

Just focus on the cards... Well, it sounded easy enough.

You took a relaxing exhale.

"We'll duel with dueling disks," the cloak announced once again, throwing back his cape to reveal a duel disk on his wrist. "I'm sure you can loan yours to her, Kaiba?"

Kaiba paid him no mind and laid down his suitcase. Opening it up, he took out the duel disk and brought it over to you to explain how it worked.

**********


	14. You vs Jael

**********

**Chapter 14:** _You vs. Jael_

**********

This was officially insane.

You were basically trying to keep the possession of your own body from this...this...guy? Was he even human? You couldn't tell when his hood stayed on all the time...

"No one has ever won to me," the cloak brought you out of musings, and you took your side of the street.

"I am the Rare Hunter Jael, by the way. I'll let you go first."

Jael initiated his dueling disks, as did you, and everyone saw the holographic projectors fly. Jael took a non-dramatic pose as he drew his first five cards. Your pose was very modest as you drew your cards.

You were fine right now; you liked the hand you had: Gravekeeper's Curse (monster/effect), Gren Maju Da Eiza (monster/effect), Block Attack (magic), The Stern Mystic (monster/effect), and Earthbound Soul (monster/effect).

You couldn't explain the kind of pressure this duel was putting on you. It was weird; it was like you knew that you were so nervous that your body would be shaking by the anticipation, but as soon as the duel started your mind had just set. It was like none of the pressure was even there...but then again, you knew it was.

Drawing the first card, since Jael said you'd go first, you saw you had picked up Enchanted Javelin (trap). _'It would be best to use Enchanted Javelin when I'm losing. He may hit harder when I'm down...'_

Then, after a brief look-through of your other cards, you said what you were doing.

"I place a monster card face down on the field," you had put Earthbound Soul in defense.

It was better to play it safe for now and keep everything under wraps. You didn't know what this guy was bringing, but you knew it couldn't be good. And the fact that he kept his face covered put you at a psychological disadvantage...

Jael finally drew his card and started placing the ones he wanted.

"I place a monster card face down, as well as two other cards."

You noticed his monster card was in attack mode.

That ended his turn. You assessed that this was no Joey you were going up against; after all, this guy wasn't very aggressive...yet.

Drawing your next card, you found that it was the continuous trap card, Spatial Collapse. You would definitely have to use this one right away. But first, to put The Stern Mystic down in attack mode...

"I summon another monster card face down on the field, and I activate the trap card Spatial Collapse. It prevents both players from having more than five cards on the field!"

"That's a very neat card you have there," Jael silently mocked. "You had just better hope that your own trap card doesn't prevent you from victory."

That...definitely struck a chord in you. It wasn't his comment about your trap card, but his silent confidence was so thick that it was suffocating your own.

Jael drew his next card...

"I summon Ancient Elf to the field in attack mode! Next I flip summon the Shining Abyss, and I attack him to your attack mode monster card!"

Your card raised up to show that The Stern Mystic was being attacked. Your card would be destroyed, but...

"Don't forget about it's effect," you reminded him. "It flips all face down cards on the field over, and it doesn't let the effects of the flipped cards be activated."

"So you can see my cards...," Jael retorted nonchalantly. "I have no problem with that. Besides, as soon as your card is gone from the field, I'll be using them anyway."

Just as he said, your Stern Mystic dissolved into nothing, and he continued his attack. "I'll attach Reinforcements to my Ancient Elf and attack with a total of 1,950 points!"

He attacked your other face down card, which was Earthbound Soul in defense.

"Sorry, but that won't be enough to beat my Earthbound Soul of 2000 defense," you said bluntly.

That was weird; it was like Yami's words were really starting to kick in now. You felt strong and powerful...maybe because you had stopped everything that he had thrown at you so far...?

"Well, you may have won this go around, but there will be others."

That comment had brought you back down from cloud nine. Drawing your next card, you got The Earl of Demise (monster/5 stars). You chose to end your turn.

Jael drew a card.

"I sacrifice Ancient Elf to summon Soul of Purity and Light onto the field."

Knowing good and well that anything besides a normal or a flip summon couldn't attack the same turn it had been summoned, you knew his turn had ended, and you drew your next card.

It was Arcane Archer of the Forest. You could use him to summon your Earl of Demise to stop his attack!

"I sacrifice Earthbound Soul for the Earl of Demise in attack mode!"

His attack was 2000, which matched the Soul of Purity and Light, and if your assumption was right, this guy wouldn't attack and destroy both of the monsters...

Drawing his next card, Jael spoke, "I end my turn..."

His tone was so condescending, you weren't sure you could go through with your next turn, but you couldn't let it show. Letting this guy know that you were being shaken by his uncertain actions was already like letting him win!

The next turn, you drew a Dark Hole, and decided to use that card as a last resort. Next, it was Jael's turn, and he didn't play anything either. It made you wonder if he was just psyching you out, or if he was waiting for something to happen...

On your next turn, you drew Princess of Tsurugi, but decided against playing her as well. You knew you could get 500 Life Points taken away from Jael upon flip summoning, but something was telling you to wait. You didn't think right now was the best time to do it. Not when Jael was acting like this.

Jael also drew a card and did nothing.

It was your turn again, and this time you got Invigoration (magic/equip)! You immediately went to work.

"I equip my Earl of Demise with Invigoration, and attack with a total of 2400!"

Jael didn't seem very impressed when you crushed his Soul of Purity and Light.

"You didn't make a very big dent; you only took away 400 of my Life Points," he chided. "I was expecting better."

You couldn't help it, but your anger flared. He was _mocking_ you! And after you blocked almost all of the guys offense before!

"__(y/n)__," you heard Yami's voice call from behind you. "He's trying to distract you from the duel so he can win. Don't let his words get to you."

You just nodded and waited as Jael performed his own turn.

"I play Maha Vailo in attack mode...and I will use the magic card Fissure to destroy your lowest attack level monster."

Since your only monster was Earl of Demise, he and all equipped cards went to your graveyard. You didn't let that get to you; you had other cards in your hand!

You drew your next card; Monster Reborn!

"I play the magic card, Monster Reborn!" you said with confidence. You could feel your lips tug into a sly grin. "And I choose the Soul of Purity and Light!" Why not hit him where it _really_ hurt...?

"Heh...it just so happens you activated my trap card," he said in soft, silent arrogance. "Trap Hole is activated when any monster with 1000 or above attack points is summoned onto the field, and they are immediately sent to the graveyard. So, you will not have the pleasure of controlling my monster against me, if that's what you thought you were going to do."

You could have swore you reeled back after hearing his words.

"Stay focused!" Yami called sternly. "It doesn't matter if he figured out your play; it matters if he can block them!"

"We will see about _that_!" you heard Jael challenge in a seemingly unsuitable tone of rage.

You fidgeted nervously as Jael drew his next card.

"I tribute Maha Vailo to summon Gyakutenno Megami onto the field!"

That was odd; you were going up against the same card that Kaiba had given you...

In any case, he still wasn't attacking, which you thought was odd. It was like he was waiting for something...

You drew your next card; Invitation to a Dark Sleep (monster/effect)! But you'd have to tribute for him.

"I place a monster card face down on the field in attack mode to end my turn," you announced.

Jael drew his card.

"I play Spirit of the Harp in defense."

He said nothing else so you drew your next card; Sword of Dark Destruction (magic/equip).

You smirked.

"I flip Princess of Tsurugi and take your Life Points down another 500 for you other trap card on the field."

"Hmph. If this is all you're going to do is try to wear down my Life Points with your silly cards then you're as good as dead!"

"I. Wasn't. Finished," you stated in a dark tone. This guy was royally peeving you off, and it was going to stop. He would see what your "silly cards" could do to him!

"I will also play the magic card Block Attack on your Spirit of the Harp. Then I will tribute my Princess of Tsurugi to summon Invitation to a Dark Sleep, also equipped with the Sword of Dark Destruction and attack your Spirit of the Harp!"

After damage calculation, he went down by 2000 Life Points. Jael was now at a whopping 1600 Life Points. You couldn't help but smile.

"Impressive," he commented nonchalantly. Your blood started to simmer again...

Jael drew his next card. "I place one card face down on the field."

It wasn't a monster card, and he still wasn't attacking you. This guy was nuts! He was very close to losing!

But another question stood out in your mind: Did this guy even care...?

**********


	15. You vs Jael (2)

**********

**Chapter 15:** _You vs. Jael (2)_

**********

It didn't make any sense. You knew this guy was a good duelist; you could see it in his cards.

But it was like he didn't care if he lost.

Maybe he was doing it to confuse you; to make you think that you were really good and then strike you when you were on the top and completely devastate you so that you couldn't duel.

You reasoned that it had to be the answer for why he was acting the way he was.

Drawing your next card, you found it to be Marie the Fallen One (monster/effect). The effect could be very useful for you if he was planning to take you down.

"I summon Arcane Archer of the Forest in defense mode," you announced. You looked straight at him to signify that you were done.

Jael drew his card. "I summon White Magical Hat onto the field."

It was in attack mode, but it was too weak to take out your Arcane Archer, fortunately.

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, you drew another card; it was Black Pendant (magic/equip).

Then you began some tactics to take out the rest of his Life Points.

"I sacrifice my Arcane Archer to summon Marie the Fallen One onto the field," you had summoned her into attack mode. "Then I will attach Black Pendant to Invitation to a Dark Sleep for a total of 2400 attack points, which I shall attack your White Magical Hat with."

He chuckled evilly. "Too bad you activated another trap card of mine: Waboku! Your attack is diminished to 0!"

"Tch. Whatever," you managed, a little miffed at the trap card.

Jael drew another card. "I play the magic card Fissure...and take out your lowest attack level monster."

Marie the Fallen One was obliterated to your graveyard, but you announced excitedly, "Thank you, Jael. Now I get 200 Life Points added during my Standby Phases!"

"It's a small price to pay for the next card I'll play," he replied in a foreboding way. "Next I'll play the magic card...Change of Heart!"

You heard yourself gasped. Or was it everyone behind you that you heard...?

"But to keep to the limit of your trap card...I'll tribute White Magical Hat and Gyakutenno Megami to summon my other Soul of Purity and Light onto the field," he said fiendishly. "Now I have a total of 3 spaces open to put one of your monsters on my side of the field. And since I want to take control of your Invitation to a Dark Sleep, I've opened up the required amount of spaces to allow the equip cards as well!"

Your cards physically went to his side of the field, preparing to attack you. "And since it was your only monster on the field, it leaves you purely open for me to attack your Life Points. So that now leaves you at 1600 as well!"

As he said so, your monsters attack came right at you, streaming pain through every limb the attack hit.

You breathing a little hard now, but you wouldn't give up...

...But your body might.

You fell to the ground momentarily, but immediately picked yourself back up.

"Hang in there, __(y/n)__!" You heard Tea shout behind you.

"You're just on equal footing now!" Yugi called as well.

"It's your turn," Jael chided at you.

Drawing another card, you played it immediately.

"I play Dancing Fairy in attack mode," you rasped. "I also play a card face down on the field." It was your Enchanted Javelin. "And my Life Points go up to 1800 for Marie the Fallen One being in my graveyard."

"A pathetic lead, really," he shared his opinion as he drew his next card. "I play the magic card Ookazi, which allows me to take 800 of your Life Points away. Now, I will attack with my Soul of Purity and Light!"You smirked. "You may have taken my Life Points down to 1000, but my trap card, Enchanted Javelin has been activated by your monster's attack! My Life Points increase to the attack points equal to that of your monster! So I'm back at 3000!"

"A very nice trick to save your Life Points," Jael said in his nonchalant tone again.  
"But, it doesn't matter if I win or lose."

Suddenly, the forehead on his cloak started to glow, and his eyes could finally be seen. He had been bending his head over to keep his eyes in shadow. But they were devoid of any color.

"I'm still taking the Signet! In fact, there's no way you could beat me except with your Metal Armored Bug. So, I'll save you the embarrassment and..."

He was instantly propelled and he had attached his hand to your throat, painfully in the blink of an eye.

"...JUST TAKE YOU NOW!!!"

You were taken aback by the suddenness of it all, until your bearings came back and you kicked him off of you. Jael's tight grip left a burning sensation on your throat, and you put your free hand to it as you saw him stumble back.

Jael prepared to launch himself at you again.

But before Jael could tackle you, you felt a rough tug on your arm, and you were taken out of the path violently. Suddenly, Jael stopped and turned to you. But you weren't aware of it, as you were looking curiously at Yami. He was radiating an odd blackish aura about him, and there was an odd symbol appearing on his forehead.

Yami said nothing, but raised his hand and out shot a black...light? You couldn't tell what it was. It hit Jael, and he immediately screamed. He screamed like he was being seared with a cattle prod. It was hurting your ears because of the closeness that Jael was at; it made your ears pop and your hearing suddenly went muffled, like someone had stuck cotton in them.

Jael had instantly stopped, and slumped to the ground. Luckily, his hood still covered his face, because you didn't want to see what might be under there now...

"__(y/n)__," Yami broke you out of your reverie. "You are not to be alone _at all_ from this point on."

Your anger had jumped up again. "But you can't--"

" _Don't_. Argue," he commanded in a menacing tone. You had to comply with the glare he gave you.

You fidgeted nervously as he ushered you and the others back into the game shop.

**********


	16. Remembering Innocence

**********

**Chapter 16:** _Remembering Innocence_

**********

You actually _really_ wanted Yami to stay with you tonight. After the happenings with Jael _and_ Bakura, you were more than a little unnerved about not being in his presence.

But, if he even got the inkling that you may be scared, you had the feeling he'd want to play the hero for you. And he probably wouldn't even let you go to school! You had to draw the line somewhere.

Currently, you were trying to get him out of your house.

"Are you sure you'll be fine without me?" Yami asked in all seriousness as he stopped for the umpteenth time at the door; it had never opened within the 15 minutes that he had started to leave. He kept doing it to see if your guard would slip, and he'd be able to find out how much you were really worried by the situation.

"I told you!" you began in exasperation. "I have Yugi's number on speed dial already. Tea will be here with me, and we'll sleep out here in the living room where she can 'keep an eye on me'! Besides, my dad would kill me if he ever found out I let a boy sleep over!"

"Really, Yami," Tea mock-scorned from the couch; she was setting up the bedding. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were worried about her."

You saw Yami pinch his nose back, trying to ward away his anger.

"Fine."

He started for the door, and you followed him to make sure he actually went out. He suddenly stopped, and turned back to you.

"But I'll be here very early in the morning to check on you," he said in a parental-manner.

"Yes, yes...of course," you replied dully. "Can you leave now?"

His brows furrowed in disapproval. "Maybe I _will_ stay..."

Tea took the signal to step in. "Yami, I _promise_ I'll call you the minute anything strange happens, okay?"

Yami gave a disapproving grunt and walked out the door. Tea shut it after him, and leaned against the door.

"If you're going to want _any_ time to yourself, you're going to have to stop antagonizing him," she informed you.

You sighed. "He needs to stop being so domineering."

"He's only looking out for your best interest," Tea argued. "This whole mess has really put him on edge, lately."

You walked over and slumped on the lounge chair. "I know...."

You leaned to the side of the arm, crossed your arms, and laid your head on them.

"It's just, so much has happened since I got here. I haven't had any time to myself to think."   
Your voice sounded so helpless...

"Maybe I should have let Yami stay..."

"No!" Tea suddenly said with fire burning in her eyes. It made you jump.

"All girls need their alone time! Besides, I'm here to watch you! There's no need to worry about anything!"

You smiled, and maybe even laughed a bit at Tea's antics. "Okay."

**********

You heard a thud, but you didn't see anything; it was too dark, and your senses were too fuzzy to create a clear conclusion of what had happened.

"Tea?" you called from your spot on the lounge chair.

"Did you fall off the couch...?"

You couldn't help but sweatdrop at that possibility.

"Tea?" you called again.

No answer.

"Tea! This isn't funny! Answer me!" You weren't sure why you were yelling in whispers.

"She won't be waking up anytime soon," a malicious, conniving voice answered behind you.

Your body went rigid as you turned around at a painfully slow speed.

It was some guy in a dark cape; he was by the window in the living room, so the moonlight gave him more of an ominous feel. His hair looked ghost-white, and the moonlight gave his jewelry and pale, violet eyes the most predatorial feeling you had ever felt.

You were waiting to see if he'd move some other way so you could run to the phone receiver by the front door. But you quickly concluded he wouldn't.

Throwing off your blankets violently, you dashed like a mad cat to the receiver. Your adrenaline was pumping so bad that your veins were hurting from the fearful exertion.

But you hardly got past the couch when your were tackled to the ground.

The man easily fought your squirming and twisted you around so that you were facing him. He had your legs trapped underneath his weight, and he had pinned your arms above your head with only one of his hands. His other was carrying some kind of gold rod.

"My, my...," he sounded condescending, and you didn't like how evil people sounded when they were like that. "You do have quite a lot of spunk."

The smile he let you see gave you chills.

He was bending lower to get closer to your face, but you kept squirming. "Let go of _me_!!!" you shouted at the top of your lungs, and then proceeded to scream your head off.

Suddenly, you felt a seering strike against your cheek and you had stopped. Then he grabbed your face with his free hand (he must have set down his rod thing...), shaking your head enough to get the message across.

"Do that again," he warned you in a darkly low tone. "And I _won't_ hesitate to kill you."

His words made your stomach go cold, so you felt it best to stay put.

"Now," he decided to try and be charming. "You will do a little favor for me..."

It wasn't a choice, but he was attempting to be nice about bringing it up.

But that didn't stop you from being rebellious.

"I won't do _anything_ for you!" you told him in defiance.

You heard him chuckle deeply in his throat. "You amuse me..."

Then you thought your head had been severed off, but he was just digging the tips of his fingers into the sensitive parts of your throat. You gagged the best you could, squirming under his weight, and feeling the familiar tingle of your face being cut from oxygen.

"...BUT YOU WILL _NOT_ DEFY ME ANY LONGER!!"

His face had contorted crazily, and his pale violet eyes narrowed as he screamed ferociously at you.

With as much ferocity as he had began he had let go, letting you cough until your lungs felt like they would cave in from the action.

You were aware that he had his rod back in his hand, and that he had let go of your hands. But you were quite disoriented from everything that had just happened, and his gold rod starting glowing...

**********

You had awoken to a brash knocking at the door.

Glancing at the clock on top of the entertainment stand, you saw it read 6:30...A.M.!

You groaned as you got up from...the floor?

Oh my God! It _had_ happened! That guy...

"__(y/n)__!" you heard Yami's deep, muffled yell.

"I'm coming!" you answered back in a squeak. You weren't sure if it was from the flood of the events of last night that had just hit you, or Yami's demanding yell.

Opening the door, Yami pushed it open rather harshly, looking you over for a missing limb.

"What happened? What took you so long to open the door?"

"Some people _sleep_ during this hour of the morning...," you mumbled grumpily.

On the inside, you were screaming for Yami not to probe. You weren't sure if you had the guts to tell Yami about last night...

You involuntarily rubbed your neck and Yami gave you a suspicious glance. "What...?"

"I don't remember the marks on your neck being that red...," he deducted, coming closer to inspect them. "Let me see them--"

"I have to wake Tea up--" you tried to escape him.

Yami grabbed your shoulder and forced you around. "Hey!"

You tried to fight his grip.

"Let me see them!" he demanded with as much venom as a rattlesnake. You froze, turning your head to face a wall.

"It was from when Jael attacked me," you stated simply. "I noticed them getting redder last night; injuries like that are always worse the day after." You refused to look at him.

Yami grabbed your chin, making you turn to face him. He gave you a stern look of authority, clearly stating "you had better be telling me _everything_ ," and then, not really satisfied but knowing you wouldn't say anything else, he let go of you.

"Fine. But you're not leaving my sight anymore...," he stated in all his regal-ness. "Even at _night_."

"We'll just see what my dad says about that," you mumbled as you walked to wake Tea, not knowing Yami had heard you.

"Watch me."

You bit down a comment as some of Tea's words from the night before had ran through your mind.

**********

"I'm tellin' ya!" Joey told everyone around him.

He was hard to miss if he was anywhere, really.

"I checked my deck, like I do every mornin', an' my Time Wizard an' Red-Eyes were gone!"

You heard everyone around Joey make pitiful sounds of sympathy, but it interested you.

Especially after Joey had said that he had locked everything in his house that was capable of being locked before he went to bed.

"I jus' don' understand why someone would jack my cards like dat!" His tears were only for getting more sympathy, and to add more melodramatics to the whole situation. "How can someone be so EVIL?!"

More sympathy was heard.

"Odd, isn't it?" you heard Yami's deep voice come up behind you.

"If you mean Joey being an 'odd-BALL,' that is..."

"That's not what I mean..."

"I _know_!" you spat back at him. "It's called a _joke_ ; it lightens people's moods! Now can you _please_ stop stalking me while we're at school? Nothing's going to happen in an over-crowded room of teenagers!"

Yami's gaze gave you an odd glint. "You can never be too sure."

You turned away from him just before a chill ran down your spine.

**********

You opened the door as you entered your home, but didn't shut it all the way. "Dad? You home?"

Your father was known for his unknown visits from his hectic work life. However, there was no answer.

"Okay, you can come in," you told Yami.

Yami followed silently as you casually went past the kitchen and down the small hallway to your room.

"Make yourself at home!" you offered politely.

You kept your door open as you threw your bag onto your bed. You went to go straight out the door, when something about your dresser seemed off.

Going over, you saw two Duel Monster cards face down. _'That's odd,'_ you thought. _'I always keep my extras in the box under my bed...'_

Flipping them over, and icy fear gripped your body.

Time Wizard...

...and Red-Eyes Black Dragon...!

What were they doing in your house?! These...these were Joey's cards!! But you didn't steal them! You swore it! You were being attacked by that crazy guy last night, not out stealing cards!

"__(y/n)__!" you heard Yami call as he entered your room. You opened your top drawer and slid them in there and closed it right before Yami came in. You put on your best smile!

He gave you a suspicious look.

"Hey let's have some tea!" you gushed, pushing him out of your room and shutting the door behind you. "It's very soothing!"

You may have been awkwardly avoiding everything, but mentally it was a wonder you were even able to function what you were producing given the crashing freight train inside of you.

***********


	17. Not in the Right Mind

**********

**Chapter 17:** _Not in the Right Mind_

**********

"You're not sleeping in my room. I don't care if you'll be on the floor; that's personal space!"

You were in the kitchen, searching for your tea kettle. You had no idea where you had put it after the time you burned your hand with it. Involuntarily, you stopped to glanced at your bandaged hand. You were searching in the cabinet under your sink for about the sixth time.

"I told you, you're going nowhere out of my line of vision," Yami said simply from his seat at the bar counter cross from your person.

This was exactly why you didn't want Yami looking after you...er, stalking you, more like. You were dreading when the whole sleeping arrangement situation would be brought up. You were actually hoping to maybe stay awake all night so that it wouldn't even come down to this...

...But, of course, Yami saw it otherwise in your best interest to stay up all night.

You sighed reluctantly and stood from your search, facing Yami with the utmost bored look on your face.

"Fine. I'll sleep out here..."

You saw him smirk in the delight of getting his way. You could only glare and return yourself to your search.

"A- _HA_!!" You cried in excitement, rising from the floor and shutting the cabinet. You closed in on the sink and began to fill it with water. "I'm making some tea. Do you want any...?"

"Doesn't that contain something that keeps you awake?" he prodded curiously. Then his face set in a determined way. "You should be resting, not over-exerting yourself."

You were going to say some _really_ snazzy comeback to slap him in the face with, but you felt the situation was already bad enough. "I'll take that as a 'no'..."

"You really shouldn't be drinking it either."

Your eye began to twitch, but you just followed Yami's "request" and set down the kettle in the sink and huffed to the lounge chair in the living room. You kept repeating Tea's words from the other night.

_"Best interest...best interest...best interest..."_

"I'm only advising you in your health," Yami called a little louder.

You bit your tongue...hard...to negate the retort screaming across your head. ' _Well, I don't need some 5,000 year old mummy to tell me what's best for me! Especially since he lived in a time of -- Oh, wait a minute...the Egyptians were a highly advanced race, weren't they? Especially in technology and medicine??'_ That realization had muted your anger.

You restlessly got out of your seat and went to the hall. "Yeah, yeah...I know. My best interest...I _know_ ," you mumbled aloud.

You missed the confused look on Yami's face. "Where are you going...?"

"To get the blankets and stuff!" you called back from the door in the hallway. "Since we'll be sleeping out here..."

You came back with two pillows covered in a white case on each, along with two forest green felt throws. You threw a pillow and blanket to the couch.

"You can take the couch," you stated while setting up your bedding on the lounge chair. Once you had finished, you settled in, curling into a ball on your side (not facing the couch), and brought up the covers all the way to your neck.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to _bed_!" you replied rather grumpily. "Because I'm tired..." You finished with a yawn.

After a while, you could tell that Yami had switched off all the lights (you were surprised he found all the switches; your father liked to have his switches customized to be placed in the weirdest places), and you heard him settle himself into his "bed" on the couch.

**********

You couldn't fall asleep.

You shifted restlessly as you glanced at the clock on the entertainment stand.

Had it really only been half an hour?!

You let your head sink deeper into your pillow, then you shifted yourself to the side facing the couch.

Yami was staring straight at you.

"I thought you said you were going to bed?" he chided softly.

"I _would_ if I'd stop getting the unnerving feeling that someone keeps _watching_ me!" You pointedly glared at him.

He only chuckled to himself and turned to face the back of the couch.

You gave a glare as you shifted to make yourself comfy.

**********

Yami awoke to a very distinct feeling in his stomach; the power of a Millennium Item.

His eyes had shot open and he cautiously rolled over to see if you were still asleep...  
...but he didn't find your still form there.

Frantically, he propped himself up on his elbows and glanced around the room.

You were nowhere to be found...

...but his periphery caught a glimmer of something raised high above his head.

Yami dived off of the couch, and rolled behind the lounge chair. Getting up quickly, he spotted no one behind the couch...

But he saw a knife embedded into the upholster of the couch cushion where he was laying. If he wasn't mistaken, that was about the place where his chest had been resting.

Yami scanned the room with his face crunched up into a condescending glare.

He saw nothing, but he _knew_ something was there.

Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on his neck. Arms had wound themselves as tightly as they could about him, but it felt...hesitant?

From his periphery, he recognized who it was.

"__(y/n)__!" Yami called in serene surprise. He turned around to face you as you slowly started backwards, cradling your head.

Yami took notice of the glowing symbol on your forehead, and the darker features on your face.

"The Millennium Symbol...," he said in amazement. Yami cautiously began to step towards you.

Like a jolt of pain, you shoved Yami away from you and ran towards the kitchen.

Yami was left a little dumbfounded, but he scurried to stand and chase after you, knowing only bad things could come from the kitchen with the state you were in.

You had spilled the contents of one of the drawers in the kitchen, leaving the walls victim to the vicious resonation of the drawer's contents falling to the floor.

Yami noticed it was the silverware. Concluding that you might just be going for another knife or five, he rushed you as you bent down to pick some of them up. Yami seized your arms by the wrists, preventing you from any further action. He bent down on his knees to provide a better offensive on you, sliding his lower leg across the spilled contents so that you couldn't reach most of them.

You were squirming uncontrollably under his clamp-like grip; you couldn't even articulate your arms that well.

Then, he forced your back to the lower cabinets below the counter top of the kitchen harshly, so that he would have you figuratively "cornered." He quickly pinned your upper arms to the cabinets, making it impossible for you to move otherwise.

When you quit fighting him, it seemed as if you were in pain...not from his grip, but from something else...

That's when realization hit him.

"__(y/n)__! You have to fight this! You have to fight whoever has control of you!"

You only squirmed under his grip in response.

Yami's protests became more passionate as he saw that it didn't seem to be working. "FIGHT IT!" he demanded. "You must fight it!"

You let out a small squeak as his voice was getting louder, and heavier with emotion; it was like you were hearing what he was saying, but something was punishing you for it.

"I can't help you unless you help yourself!" he told you, his voice fading as something came across his mind. He looked down at his Millennium Puzzle.

"The Puzzle...it must be reacting to it. But it's hurting her...," he said to himself. _"But if I use it on her with what it's doing now..._

But, her heart is good; I know it is. If I try to purge __(y/n)__ of the evil, it should work, and the evil should be expelled...

...But I've never used my power that way."

Yami set his face in determination.

You were still squirming like some part of you had caught fire; Yami would have to secure you somehow to perform it. The position he was in now would leave him weaker, and you might be able to escape. There was nothing near the both of you that could serve as a temporary "cage" to keep you from going anywhere.

So, Yami opted to hold you to him.

He brought you to his body, embracing you firmly to him, your hands tucked to your sides. Then, he called to his Puzzle; trying to pull in the recesses of his mind...

Suddenly, a strange black aura surrounded him as the Millennium Symbol appeared slowly onto his forehead. Hugging you tighter to him although you were still trying to fervently pull away, a transparent black light enveloped the both of you as the Puzzle activated just as slowly as the symbol had appeared.

Your voice went shrill as the energy crackled around you. Yami hugged you tighter to him, as if it would ward away the pain you were in; it only seemed to muffle the sound. Your voice reverberated into Yami's skin, and his eyes closed tightly, trying to block out your cries.  
Then the light grew in radius around you, and it was crackling even more rebelliously. Yami knew that whoever was controlling you was trying to fight off his counter. Your screams grew even louder as the crackling grew wilder. Yami tried hugging you tighter; it was like he was hurting...

***********

Searing, burning, dull ache, soreness, stiffness...

It was a vicious cycle as Yami's counter for the mind control was going on. You could feel the presence in your mind trying to fight Yami's attempts, and he was squeezing you so hard now that it was getting hard to breathe...

You screamed shrill-y once again as the radius of the black light increased. You felt Yami cradle your head to the crook of his neck so that your screams would be muffled, but it only made it sound like a gurgling hoarseness.

Tears stung your eyes in protest as you bit back the final wave of increased energy on your body, but it didn't stop you from grunting pathetically into Yami's chest as you let your head fall lower.

Gradually, the light went away, and you felt very much in control of your body again. However, it was a very hard-pressed fatigue that washed over you. Your body slumped lazily into Yami's, as he wrapped his arms under yours and around your exhausted body. You breathing was so shallow, Yami had to check to see that you were actually breathing.

Your eyes were so heavy that you opted to just keep them closed.

You felt Yami's two fore-fingers on the side of your neck, pressing gently...to check your pulse. But you weren't aware of any of that; the sound of Yami's breathing from where your head was calmed you. In fact, it lulled you to the point of letting you be claimed by an over-exerted sleep.

**********


	18. Challenges Carry Much More

**********

**Chapter 18:** _Challenges Carry Much More_

**********

You were aware that you had to be waking up.

Of course, that was only a conclusion because of your barely-together concentration and fuzzy vision.

However, before you could even recognize where you were, you shut your eyes again, groaning at the throbbing that started right away in your head. There was also a deep splitting that was accompanying the throb, and it felt as if someone was using an ice-pick to reach the center of your head. You groaned again as you finally felt your hand rest on your face; you knew it wouldn't ward anything off, but you wanted to shield your closed eyes from the rest of the light seeping through, as if the darkness you were in before could be remade. After all, the headache wasn't hurting you then.

Shifting to lay on your side, you felt someone's hand come down on your shoulder, gently.

"How are you feeling?"

You heard Yami's voice reverberate through your head. It made your head have a sudden surge of pain wash over it. You sucked in your teeth as the surge went back to that achy throb.

"Don't ask me that," you heard yourself croak out lowly. But then you asked, "What happened? I don't remember getting a headache..."

You opened your eyes anyway, despite the protest your head was putting you through for it to see Yami walking back to his seat on the edge of your bed. His vision was towards the window.

"Someone named Marik had control of you," he paused, as if deciding what would be best to say. "You fell unconscious after I had rid you of his powers. He decided to show up in person a little while afterwards."

You were waiting for him to elaborate...but he stayed quiet.

"So what happened?" you asked gently as you went to sit up, cautiously. You eventually got up to sitting position, resting your hands and head on your pulled-up knees.

Yami glanced straight at you momentarily, then shifted his head down a little. He looked back out the window after doing so.

"He wants a final duel with me," he said in his bold tone. "I know he's after the Signet, but he'll need you to get it."

Although his tone was bold, you sensed a worry in him. But it might rub him the wrong way if you pointed that out...so you decided on something different.

"I'm sure you'll win," you began softly. "I may have not ever seen you duel, but from all the advice you've given me in my duels and outside of them, I bet you're an excellent dueler," you noticed his head turn, and you shifted your vision downwards to look at your flowery comforter.

"Besides," you said. "With Joey flaunting his second place finish in Duelist Kingdom, I had to ask who beat him. And he told me it was you--well, you and Yugi."

It went quiet after that, until Yami seemed to change the subject for some reason you weren't aware of. He seemed oddly grave to you when his mind wasn't on anything at all...

"The others should be here soon," Yami informed as he raised to stand and started for the door. "I'll let you rest some more."

As he was going out the door, a thought hit you as you spotted your purse on your dresser.

"Wait! Yami!" you called as you scurried over to your purse.

You grabbed your deck and went over to him, noticing his bewildered face. you pulled out a card and handed it to him. "I want you to have my Metal Armored Bug."

He studied the card for a minute, then looked back at you. "I can't take this; it's your strongest card."

"Please, Yami! I'll feel bad if I don't help you in some way during this battle," you stated. "After all the times you've helped me, I haven't paid you back in any way! I'd feel better if you dueled with one of my cards."

Knowing that you wouldn't let up, Yami spoke. "Alright, I'll use one of your cards," he said sternly. "But I'm not using this one." He handed your rarest card back to you. "May I pick one myself?"

He offered his hand to receive your deck.

You handed him your deck with the most confused face. What other card could be worth using?

It took no time at all for Yami to choose the card he wanted. In fact, it was as if he already decided when he was going through them.

"Princess of Tsurugi," he said the name, handing you your deck back.

"Huh? Why that one? It's only a three-star monster."

"Besides the fact that I love it's effect," Yami said simply, looking straight at you. "It will remind me who I'm fighting for."

You felt your face tingle and warm as he started towards the door again.

"Now get some rest," he called as he shut the door.

You were too dumbfounded to hurry back to the bed...

But even you wanted to you couldn't: Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Yugi had busted in, swarming you with concerned eyes, and way too many questions to even register, let alone answer.

**********


	19. Marik's Intentions

**********

**Chapter 19:** _Marik's Intentions_

**********

Yami had told you that today Marik said to meet him in the eastern district by the docks. Well, more like meet him at dock twelve.

It was weird; why dock twelve? Was there some significance or not?

You shook your head clear; sometimes, you really needed to not think so much about things.

But another thought popped into your head anyway.

"Shouldn't we have told the others where we were going?" you queried to Yami up ahead of you. "Won't they be worried?"

Yami kept his pace, not turning to you and said, "They would be in the way. And since even I don't know that much about Marik, they could be in danger if they came," he stated simply. "If I did have a choice in this, you wouldn't be here either."

Your face was pulling dark shades after that remark.

"Don't be getting all 'high and mighty' on me just because you're the one that's going to duel," you warned him.

Yami didn't respond; it was like you had never spoken.

You tried getting angry, but you couldn't. It was all let out in a reluctant sigh. He may be a jerk, but he was right...

You suddenly noticed how the salty and fishy odor seemed to become stronger as you and Yami reached the dock area. You almost gagged.

"Gah!" you tried breathing. "How can you stand this smell?"

"Well, this is dock twelve," Yami completely ignored your last comment and set himself right in front of the entrance to the dock.

"So now what do we do?" you asked.

Yami hadn't told you much outside of that you were supposed to go to the docks.

"Don't tell me we're supposed to wait."

"Then I won't," he responded in all seriousness.

You scrunched up your nose at the response, like you were disgusted with the answer.

"Ya know," you began, standing beside Yami who was searching the area with his eyes for anything that would say that Marik was there. "He's turning out to be the most predictable--"

Suddenly, the ground opened up, swallowing both you and Yami as gravity set in from the lack of matter holding the two of you up; it happened too fast for you to scream.

It was black as a cave; the kind where even if there was an opening, the light couldn't penetrate the darkness. You were sliding down some slick tunnel-way, but it ended a little too fast, just like everything else that happened in the past five seconds, and you found yourself sprawled on a sleek, metallic-tile floor.

Dazed, you looked around and found Yami already standing, and surveying the situation. It was like he knew this would happen, and already prepared for it...

...did the guy _always_ seem this smooth?

Pushing yourself up, you stood and looked around yourself. It was dim, but you could tell that the place was made out of modern-day materials. The whole room was made out of that sleek tile.

"Are we underground, Yami?" you questioned, walking towards him but still looking around the place curiously.

"From the way we fell, I'd say we did," he answered back, still enchanted by his curiosity as well. "But it looks like someone has created a dwelling here..."

There was a dull, unenthusiastic clapping as someone came into view from what seemed like a darker-lit hallway; it was hard to tell because it was so dim. You could tell Yami was poising himself, preparing for anything. When he got close enough though, his clapping died down to nothing, and the lights brightened ten-fold.

You froze when you saw the familiar jewelry: the gold "neck" necklace and long earrings, bleach-blonde hair, and pale-violet eyes that were marked in some tattoo along his bottom eyelids; it was the same man that attacked you the other night! But this time he was without the dark cape. Instead, he wore a simple, sleeveless, linen shirt; it was tucked into his baggy-like, black pants.

And his skin...he had definitely seen the sun; it was like a dark caramel, but it was soft, indicating that it was quite natural, like someone who lived on a part of the earth where they had been exposed to the sun since they were born would have a tan.

"I didn't think you would show, _Pharaoh_ ," he said the latter in much contempt, and even finished glaring at Yami.

"I'm here now, Marik," Yami began in his authoritarian tone, also returning the glare. "So let's get this over with!"

"Of course..."

Suddenly, two tiles on the floor beside each of the boys raised to reveal a hidden compartment, as well as a duel disk. Each took one and setup the disks, letting the tiles go back down.

"Now," Marik began in passive mischief. "Let me explain the parameters of this duel:

It is a normal duel, under the regulations of the rule book; 4000 life points and the like.

However, all monsters may attack on the first turn they are summoned, except on the very first turns of the duel.

If I win...I get the Signet, and since __(y/n)__ has it, that means she is mine when I win."

"And if I win...?"

Marik smirked. "I really wasn't planning on you winning, but since you insist on an answer, I guess I'll just leave you two alone."

Suddenly, you felt your arms being squeezed to death, and you realized that someone was pushing you to the side of the two duelers, but right in the middle of the action.

"Let go of me!!" you yelled, as you were kicking and squirming to try and get out of the tall man's grasp. He was very tall, and cloaked in a black garb. His hood wasn't on, so you saw all the markings on the side of his face...

"Make sure she's secure, Odion," Marik instructed nonchalantly.

"What are you doing to her?!" Yami demanded.

"Collateral, _Pharaoh_ ," Marik lifted his finger in a mocking way. "I can't have my prize running off when you start losing."

Yami could only try to pierce through Marik with his eyes. But then, his face became more calm.

"What do you plan to do with the Signet, Marik?"

"I'm sure Isis has told you about the Egyptian God cards, so I won't bore you with details," Marik began. "However, to summon those monsters as actually physical manifestations, I must have the Signet."

"Why do you need such powerful cards to be real? You could cause the destruction of the world!" Yami argued.

" _That_ I'm afraid is not something for you to find out until I _kill_ you," he said it with so much acidicy that it was appalling that he hadn't lept out and tried to fulfill his claim already.

"I do not plan to lose!"

"Then let's start this duel and see how you will!"

They both drew five cards, and Marik stated, "I will go first; I'm sure you won't have a problem with this." He paused. "Oh yes, and one other thing. I'm using the exact same deck __(y/n)__ used against my Rare Hunter. I'm sure you saw the potential in her deck when she first came here."

That struck a cord in you; Marik knew you were around since the day you arrived here in Domino, like he knew you would come in possession of the Signet sooner or later. That's when one thought stood out in your mind:

He had been planning this long before you had even thought about coming to Domino.

Which also made you wonder: how much of your life had been watched by this guy...?

Then he drew his card for the Draw Phase, and set one card face down in attack mode. "I place a monster card face down on the field." He looked to Yami to say that he was finished.

Yami drew his card and played some as well.

"I place a monster card on the field," it was in defense. "And I place another card on the field." Yami looked up; it seemed his face was perpetually set in a determined glare.

"I flip summon the monster, Invitation to a Dark Sleep!"

"Not so fast, Marik," Yami began as he pushed a button on the duel disk to activate a trap card. "You've activated my trap card, Trap Hole! And since your monster has over 1000 attack points, it's wiped out from the field!"

"No matter," Marik shrugged the loss off. "I'll just summon another monster onto the field: Drillago! So if you summon any monster on the field higher than 1600 attack points, I can do direct damage to your Life Points!"

Marik may have been really getting into this, but Yami's face never changed.

Yami drew his next card.

"I place one monster onto the field," this one was in attack mode. Yami currently had two monsters on the field, "and end my turn."

Marik drew his next card. "I set one monster face down on the field."

Marik peered at you with a glint in his eye, and your stomach suddenly went cold. All this tension on the field, and he suddenly gives you a look? That was _definitely_ not a good sign...

Yami began his turn again. "I flip both Man-Eater Bug and Silver Fang for a tribute to summon...Dark Magician onto the field! And I attack your Drillago!"

Dark Magician shot something out of his staff, and Marik's Drillago was gone. His life points went down to 3100.

A few seconds later, a pain hit you; it felt like someone was squeezing your whole body to the point where your blood seemed like it would burst from your pores any second. Your lungs constricted violently, and you couldn't breathe very well. Pressure on your skin...unbearable... Rishid must have let go of you, because you were able to fall to the ground, scrunching up with your head resting on the ground, trying to make the vice-feeling go away.

**********

"You look confused, Pharaoh," Marik stated in a condescending fashion. "Oh. I must have forgot to tell you..."

"Forgot to tell me _what_?"

"I had Odion put some cuffs on her arms; they directly link her to her deck," he told him nonchalantly. "And since this is an exact copy of her deck; it'll have the same effect."

"What are you talking about, Marik?"

"Hmph. She will feel the same effects of her deck when you deal me battle damage to rid me of Life Points," he said in a playfully dark tone. "So, unless you'd like to hurt her, you must find a way to take out my Life Points Directly."

He finished with an arrogant smirk.

Yami's face contorted in something of anger...and surprise.

**********

You couldn't really hear the conversation; because of all the pressure on your body, the blood   
kept throbbing in your ears, making it hard to hear. It took a while for the sensation that gripped your body to ease. After it had eased away, you sat up, breathing a little ragged from the exertion. But at least you could hear what was going on again.

That's when you noticed gold cuffs on both your upper arms! But how--

Wait.

When that Odion-guy grabbed you...his huge hands must have hid them while he had hold of you!

"...So unless you'd like to hurt her, you must find a way to take out my Life Points directly!"

Everything came together after that; the pain that had over-taken you...it was because Yami attacked his monster!

You panicked.

Did Yami's deck have a strategy for such a job?!

"Well, if you're finished, it's my turn again," Marik said as he drew his next card. "I flip summon my Flash Assailant and tribute it for Deepsea Warrior!"

He paused, a malicious grin coming on his face.

"But the question is, should I attack your Dark Magician? Afterall, my Deepsea Warrior is weaker than your monster..."

The look he gave you sent chills down your spine; his pale-violet eyes widened in sadistic pleasure, and he grinned hungrily at you. You knew fear was pathetically evident on your face.  
After scaring you half to death, he turned back to Yami.

"But, I don't think I will," he said softly. "I think I'll save that pleasure for later when you're losing, _Pharaoh_."

Your mouth dropped open.

He was sick! And insane! A sick, insane _freak_! How could he be enjoying this?!

"That's what you think, Marik!" Yami stated in defiance. "My deck has never let me down."

You saw Marik only grin in confidence as Yami drew his next card.

Yami took a while deliberating, but when you saw him place a sly grin on his face, you couldn't help but smile. Yami had a plan! You knew he did!

"I play the magic card, Dark Hole and wipe all the monsters off of the field!" Yami announced.   
"Then I summon Man Eating Treasure Chest in attack mode; and the only thing I plan on eating is your Life Points, Marik!"

Marik's Life Points went down to 1500, and you could hardly contain the joy that was welling up inside you and spreading to your limbs, making them ansy.

Marik's face grew dark with anger, but he quickly pushed it aside and drew his next card.  
His face grew into a malignant smile; his eyes twinkling maliciously at Yami.

"I play the magic card...," he paused for a very long time, purposely making it all that more suspenseful if his face wasn't enough to make you curious with fear, "...Monster Reborn. And because I can choose from either graveyard...I'll choose..."

Your stomach turned to ice; you weren't even sure if you were breathing... You knew he would pick the strongest card that had already been on the field, which had been...

"...Dark Magician."

**********


	20. Change of Heart

**********

**Chapter 20:** _Change of Heart_

**********

You turned to Yami to see that his face was in utter horror and surprise; it was the first time you had ever seen him so taken aback in the whole time you knew him. That must have been why you felt an impending doom fill up your stomach; if Yami was that appalled by the action...you definitely didn't feel very confident right now.

But Yami composed himself rather quickly.

"I will also play the magic card, Block Attack, and use it to switch your monster to defense position," Marik chided. "Then, I will attack using _YOUR_ DARK MAGICIAN!!"

You saw Yami's eyes narrow violently as his monster disappeared. His Life Points had gone down to 2500. Yami couldn't say anything. As long as Marik had his most powerful monster, there wasn't a lot he could do to take it out and get to Marik's Life Points.

"Hmph. It seems I've taken a much larger hit on your ego," he chuckled.

Yami smirked. "Just because you have my strongest monster doesn't mean you'll be winning this duel Marik."

You gawked at him. What the _hell_ was Yami talking about? There wasn't that much he could do against Marik with the most powerful monster on the field!

"A bold-faced lie," Marik told Yami.

"We will see who will be the liar in the end," Yami said sagely as he drew his next card. "I put one monster in defense mode on the field, and end my turn."

Marik laughed lowly, which slowly grew into a throaty cackle which filled the room.

"Why are you hiding your cards? If I have the most rarest card from your deck there's no reason to try and hide them from me!!" Yami stiffened. "Attack, Dark Magician!"

Yami's face-down card flipped up, revealing Mystical Elf before she was turned into holographic bits.

As the bits cleared, Marik gave the most arrogant grin he was capable of. "If that's all you're going to do, you might as well prepare to hand __(y/n)__ right over to me."

"The battle isn't over yet, Marik!" Yami stood his ground. "I still have time to turn this duel against you!"

Marik only smirked. "I end my turn by setting a monster card, and another card face down on the field."

You noted that he finally placed a card in the magic/trap zone.

Yami drew his next card. "I use the magic card, Fissure and destroy your lowest attack level monster! And since your only face-up card is Dark Magician, it shall return to my graveyard!"

"A mere setback," Marik shrugged his shoulders.

"Next I place Witty Phantom in attack mode." Yami looked to Marik. He wasn't going to attack since he didn't know what his monster card could hold...

"What's the matter, _Yami_? Not going to chance an attack on my monster...?"

Yami only responded with his deadpan glare.

Marik then drew a card. "I play Marie the Fallen One in attack mode, and I attack your Witty Phantom!!"

You saw Yami cringe when his Life Points went down another 300 points to 1700.

"All I need is a clear shot and your Life Points are history," he reminded Yami. Then he chided at Yami's current position.

"Where is your comeback now?"

Yami's growl erupted into a yell. "The duel STILL isn't over, Marik!" He drew a card. Yami glanced at his card and then looked to Marik. "I play Card Destruction! We must both discard are hands and draw a new one of the same number that was sent to the graveyard."

You wanted to bash Yami in the head; he was giving Marik a better chance at winning the duel! Yami only had a hand of two cards, while Marik had four!

"Next I play the magic card, Soul Exchange and tribute your face down monster to summon it my Curse of Dragon on the field!"

Marik's face-down card turned out to be Dreamsprite, so it was really no big loss to him. "It's pretty pathetic when the best move you can make prevents you from doing anything besides getting a monster on the field."

"I may not be able to attack, but I have a feeling that the duel is going to turn around in my favor, Marik," Yami smiled.

"We'll see about that," Marik said as he drew his next card. "I set a monster on the field, then I will flip summon it to activate it's effect; leaving you with 800 Life Points less! Next I will play Sword of Dark Destruction on Marie the Fallen One, increasing her attack to 2100, giving her the advantage over your monster!" He paused, letting Yami's face sink into a little horror. "My last move will be to set another card onto the field."

He gazed at Yami.

"You're now at 1100."

"I can do the math, Marik," Yami spat spitefully.

Drawing his next card, Yami's eyes went wide...but then his face went into that all-too-knowing smile.

"I also play a monster card face down on the field. Then I'll flip summon for the effect!" Yami announced in grandeur. "Princess of Tsurugi's effect comes into play when the opponent has trap and magic cards on the field; for each that is on the field, I can do 500 Direct Damage to your Life Points, Marik. And since you have two face down, and one equip card...it's just enough to take you down to zero!"

That was the first time you saw Marik's mouth gape in astonishment, and his body had gone rigid.

"Now, Marik," Yami began in his regular tone of authority. "I have beaten you fair and square; release __(y/n)__!"

Marik dropped his head, his bangs darkening his face, and his body began to shake a little. Suddenly, his head whipped up, and a burning fury was in his eyes.

"Do not let her get away, Odion," his voice was stony, and set with determination.

Your adrenaline started to jump through your veins all at once and you scrambled to your feet, but Odion's long arm caught you before you could get away.

"YAMI!!"

"MARIK!" Yami demanded. "You can't have her! I won the duel!"

"You are hardly in ANY position to make DEMANDS, _Yami_!!" Marik spat as he made his way towards you and Rishid. you were squirming despite the futile attempts you knew it to be.

"You, being the _ignorant_ fool you are, have no idea how to use your powers, let alone be able to use them against a wielder of another Millennium Item."

Marik flashed the Millennium Rod that was concealed in his boot.

"That is why _I_ am to be the one to strip you of the Millennium Puzzle and your powers! You are more than unworthy to possess it! I will be Pharaoh, and you will soon be dead!!" Marik stopped when he reached you and Odion, and turned to Yami.

Yami glared in defiance. "You will never be Pharaoh, Marik, because your intentions are evil!"

"MY INTENTIONS ARE NOT EVIL!!" Marik snapped vehemently. "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED MY FATHER!! I AM KILLING THE ONE WHO HAS CAUSED ME THE MOST PAIN!!" Marik paused to take a breath.

"Once I get the Egyptian God Cards, and use the Signet to release them upon you, Yami, you will be dead! No one can defeat them! Not even YOU! Then _I_ will be Pharaoh!!"

Yami stood his ground proudly, but when he spoke, he sounded almost humbled. "So that is what this is about... Marik, I didn't kill your father; that I can assure you of."

"You are a LIAR!!"

Marik's outburst still couldn't change Yami's tone.

"Marik, even before Yugi and his friends taught me about friendship, I was very severe and calculating. But I was never so injust as to kill someone who wasn't deserving of it. Even if I don't remember my past, I know that it isn't me to do such things."

"I've heard enough of this!" Marik spat. "I'll extract the Signet myself!"

Marik held the Millenium Rod above his head holding at either end and pulled his arms apart, revealing a small dagger beneath a camouflaged sheath.

Yami started towards you. "NO! Marik!"

"You come any closer and I'll plunge this dagger into her," Marik warned quickly. You were squirming about madly in Odion's arms to keep as much distance from you and Marik as he was talking to Yami.

Yami had stopped instantly, growling lowly. "Let her go!"

"Now...," Marik eyed you intently. "Bakura said it was in your left jean pocket when it absorbed into your body..."

Before you knew it, Marik had plunged the dagger into that exact spot in your thigh.  
You had screamed, you heard Yami's voice, but then it was all drowned out when a light erupted from your leg...

***********

You had awoken in a very unfamiliar room.

There was a study desk to your side, also a dresser, and there was a closet directly in front of the bed. The door was diagonal to where the bed was.

You slowly sat up, and you sucked in air when a white pain shot out from your thigh. Peering under the covers, you saw that is was your *very* upper thigh that was bandaged, from the look of the shorts you had on-- SHORTS?! You were wearing pants, weren't you?!

Wait.

Wasn't that where Marik had stabbed you?

But then how did you end up here? What happened? How'd you get into these--

There was a knock at the door, and then Yami entered.

"I thought you might be up," Yami said while coming and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Where am I?" you asked quickly. "What happened? How'd I end up here?"

Yami shook his head and smiled. "When we were down with Marik, the Signet's power opened up when he...injured your leg," he offered.

Oh. "But what about that light? Was that the power or whatever?"

"Yes," Yami answered. "It turned out to have healing properties on Marik's darker side."

"Marik's 'darker side'?"

"I keep forgetting that you never heard anything from when I talked with Isis," Yami said.

"Marik is Isis' brother, and he's been plagued by his darker side for a long time. Isis wanted to   
help her brother rid himself of that side."

You were confused. "So what does that have to do with me?"

"It turns out that you and Marik are a lot alike," Yami informed. "Marik had been forced to do a ritual that he had never wanted to do, but it was part of the family tradition is what Isis told me.  
You, __(y/n)__, had also been forced into doing many things that you didn't want to do either."

Yami eyed you intently like he wanted some answers to that later.

You just changed the subject. "But what Marik and I were forced to do were two totally different things."

"Well, although you may have led two different lives, you both could help each other with understanding of situations that changed your lives without your wanting them too," Yami said sagely.

Okay. It seemed like a stretch but whatever. "But what about that Signet-thing? What was that for?"

"As for that," Yami began. "That was Isis' idea. She knew that it was used in the past to manifest the Egyptian God Cards into physical beings. But for weapons like that to harmonize, there must be a light-side to it; just as with the Millennium Items. There are light and dark sides. The light-side to the Signet was a type of healing property. Isis didn't know what it would do, and she still doesn't know what exactly it was used for."

"And she tried that thing on her brother? On me?!" you spat incredulously.

"Isis still knew what she was doing."

"You just told me she didn't know what it would do!"

"Calm down," Yami placated. "Fighting will get us nowhere. Or any closer to answers for you."

"Fine! Go on."

"Isis couldn't tell me much, because it's my destiny to find out about my past," Yami said. "But, basically you had been used because you were able to harbor the Signet purely."

Yami's wording had confused you. "Wait. So, I could 'purify' that ball-thing?" Yami nodded.

"How come?"

"Because you had never let yourself be consumed by your hate and fear; Marik had. Therefore, you were like the light-side needed to rid Marik of his darker side."

You blinked. "So...I was just a tool? In all this?"

"But you helped Marik," Yami urged. "You shouldn't look at it so negatively."

"But I was used!" you argued.

Yami sent you a glare.

"But I'm _so_ happy I could help someone in need!"

Yami got up to leave after that.

"Wait! Was that it?" you seemed a little shy. "What about Bakura?"

"Bakura agreed to work for Marik," Yami turned to you from where he stood. "Marik was using him to get the Egyptian God Cards; specifically the one Kaiba has. And to get the Signet from you."

Yami's face then set in realization.

"Oh yes, I wanted to give you something in return for your card."

You saw Yami bring out his deck from his deck-belt, and he searched through his cards a little before he handed you one.

"Change of Heart?" you queried. "Why this one? Isn't this the only one in your deck?"

"It doesn't matter if it's the only one from my deck," Yami waved off your concern. "I feel it very befitting to give to you."

Yami went for the door again, but halted before closing it behind him and turned to you one last time.

"Although you try to hide it, you have a very big heart," he said. "And you're able to change anyone's heart for the better."

**********


	21. Aftermath's Steady

***********

**Chapter 21:** _Aftermath's Steady_

***********

You were sitting in your favorite chair in the whole house; the lounge chair. You had your knees pulled up, your feet still holding them on by the friction of the fabric beneath them, and on your lap was your big sketch pad. You were currently drawing the "window scene" as you had dubbed it right out of the living room window.

Your father loved to be in high places, so he had the condo you lived in to be on the very top floor. You rather liked it because it showed some of the top of the buildings around the area, and at different types of the day when the sun hit them it would make a great picture. Currently, you were doing the afternoon sun and had only gotten done with the preliminary sketch of the buildings. You planned to do this one in oil crayon.

You sighed, stopping your progress and laying it on the coffee table with your scattered art supplies. Then you just sat there and stared out the window...

So much had gone by in the past two months!

You had been so busy with end of the year exams and your art school, you barely had time to even breathe. But now it was summer break and you could just concentrate on your artwork for about a month and a half.

But with your extra added art school work, you didn't get to see much of Yugi and the gang outside of class. You couldn't even remember the last time you saw them!

And Yami...

The flashes of when Marik was about to stab you with his rod and Yami's face ran through your mind.

You subconsciously put a hand down to your upper thigh.

It was taking so long to heal, and you didn't know why. Sometimes you would limp if you had been on your feet too long, or it would jab you with pain if you did a certain movement to irritate it. But it was getting better; you could tell that for sure especially with that nasty scar in place of the injury...

You thought maybe it was taking so long to heal because the Signet was still inside of you, and maybe the properties of it was delaying the healing of your leg. Of course, you could never tell for sure but it sounded good.

There was a knock at the door. _'Must be dad; he said he'd be home very early today and we could go to lunch!'_

You set a face at the door. Why wasn't he opening the door? Well, he did forget that he didn't have to knock; he had this thing about when he wasn't in a place long enough, he had to be polite when he entered...

You sighed, calling out, "It's open!"

You expected to see your father standing there, but instead it was Yami, clad in that black outfit again, but this time with some sort of gray, vest-blazer.

"Yami?" you were in delighted surprise. "What're you doing here?"

He closed the door, taking your enthusiasm as your way of offering him in. Yami made his way to the couch and took a seat.

"Well, to be honest," he began in that same firm voice. You had missed hearing that. "We all thought you may have dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Yeah, well, with my extra work load," you motioned to your art things on the table, "it's been hard to do other things."

"Tea's went through the same thing with her dance school," Yami said, now more interested in your art on the table. You noticed his glances.

"You can look through my sketches if you want," you offered while getting up. "Do you want anything to drink?" You were making your way slowly to the kitchen; your leg was bothering you from being scrunched up for so long, and you didn't want Yami to notice.

Luckily, he was absorbed into your sketchbook.

"Water would be fine," he said, not really there.

You grabbed two glasses from the cabinet, filled them with water, and made your way back.

You noticed your leg had seemed to calm down, and set both glasses down on the coffee table, taking a seat beside Yami to see what pictures he was looking at.

He was still looking at the first page.

That's when you noticed it was the one you did of Yami when he performed his final move against Marik.

You felt a blush stain your cheeks.

Oops. You had forgotten about that...

"When...," Yami's gaze stayed stuck on the picture. "...Did you do this...?"

You looked down at your lap and fiddled your fingers. "Um...a little while after I had recovered from the whole thing with Marik."

You could still plainly see what the picture looked like without looking at it; it was a diagonal front view of Yami, with his dramatic posture of "slamming" down his card onto the dueling disk. His face was contorted in determination and hints of triumph were coming out in his eyes as he was glaring at Marik. In the top, middle hand corner was your drawing of the Princess of Tsurugi card, and in the middle was the picture of Yami.

You felt like you should say something else to explain...

"I did that picture," you began very softly, "because the whole incident with Marik had really scared me bad. I thought Bakura was still going to come after me, and I was so scared..."

You glanced shyly at Yami, noting the protective gaze he was drilling you with.

"Why didn't you tell me?" his voice carried hints of demand.

How dare he?! Here you were spilling your guts, and he just...GAH!!

Your eye almost twitched. "Because you would be like _that_! All macho and protective!"

Yami sighed in reluctance, crossing his arms. " _You_ are impossible!"

You folded your arms as well. "Tchyeah! And like you're not!"

" _I'm_ looking out for your best interest!" he raised his voice, his brows furrowing in frustration.

That had broken a barrier, but you quickly replaced it with a glare for cover. You hastily got off the couch and retreated to the kitchen. "I don't have time for this crap..."

A little while afterwards, Yami had followed you, placing himself on a bar stool by the outskirt counter.

"What's wrong?" he demanded in his no-nonsense manner.

You had turned on the sink, filling it with water so you could do the little bit of dishes that had piled up. "I'm absolutely fine," you said while glaring at the running water. The sink was just opposite of where Yami sat, so you had directed your gaze towards the sink.

"Look, I know something's--"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!" you yelled at him. In your ferocious gaze, you saw Yami's face contort in surprise for a split second. Then he closed his eyes in complete solace...

"I can see you need some time alone. I'll take my leave..."

Yami had started for the door and you panicked. You didn't want him to leave! You hadn't seen him in at least a good month or so!

"Yami, wait!" you called. Your head and voice went into resignation. "I'm sorry, okay? I've just been stressed with all the work I've had, and...," you noticed Yami's eyes on you, "...stuff."

He gave you a suspicious look. "Anything else...?"

Dammit! He knew there was something else!

"No, nothing," you said quickly while going back to the dishes.

"Fine," he said in a begrudgingly-giving-up tone. He returned to his seat by the bar counter.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Yami decided to break it.

"Actually, I came over to see if you wanted to do some deck building," he explained. "A new shipment of cards came in, and I was wondering if you'd like to come over."

"I'd love to, Yami," you began, not looking at anything bu the dishes int he sink, pretending you were really into the task. "But, I was going to go to lunch today with my dad."

"I see," he said in a normal tone.

_'Is he upset...?'_

"What about tomorrow?" you offered quickly, suddenly feeling guilty.

You finally looked at Yami in the eyes.

"I'm free tomorrow."

He smiled a little. "Alright then; tomorrow. I'll come by and get you."

***********


	22. Just the Opposite

**********

**Chapter 22:** _Just the Opposite_

**********

"So have you been able to do anything related to Duel Monsters?" Yami queried as he held open the condo complex door for you.

"No," you replied, a little crestfallen at that fact. "I've put all my extra time into my art. In fact, I think there was one time when I totally forgot I even owned a deck..."

Yami chuckled lightly to himself.

"That's not funny," you shot him a glare. "I was being truthful."

"What?" he asked in mock-ignorance. "I just like it when you're confused."

You sighed in reluctance. "You know, you're weird."

"I could say the same about you," he chided, but continued so that your irritability wouldn't be an outlet on him. "But, at least you'll be able to see everyone again."

"Yeah," you said in introspection. "I have missed everyone..."

Yami noticed your far away, glazed, eyes as you were both walking.

"Something wrong?" Yami prodded sincerely.

You sighed reluctantly. "Well, it's just... I know this whole thing's over, but for some reason...I don't feel it is."

There was an eeriely condescending silence after you had let that out; it made you feel uncomfortable. You began to fidget nervously, until Yami's voice made you jump.

"I don't either," Yami took on your same tone. "When I spoke with Isis after my duel with Marik, she seemed bothered by something else, but she didn't say anything."

Your skepticism grabbed at you. "You did tell me everything, right?"

Obviously, Yami wasn't letting your attitude get to him. He only looked forward as he answered. "I told you everything Isis told me about the situation; there was no reason for me to hold anything back from you."

"Not like any of the other times...," you mumbled under your breath.

"Did you say something?" Yami honestly hadn't heard; that was a first.

"Nope."

Suddenly, a kid with long, black hair sped by you and Yami on a pair of roller blades. You had to balance your equilibrium as he went by. Then, you and Yami saw a quite out-of-breath Kaiba brother turn the corner, looking a little disheveled from the exertion.

"Mokuba!" Seto called in distaste, clenching his teeth. "Get back here!"

You saw Yami trying to suppress a smirk at the sight of Kaiba breathing harshly. He had stopped to catch his breath.

You turned to see if Mokuba was okay, and saw that he was right beside you and Yami.

"It's Yami now, isn't?" Mokuba looked at Yami. "Yugi and Joey told me what happened the other day when we ran into them." He stared at Yami in amazement for a minute. "Wow! So you used to be a pharaoh! That's so cool!"

Yami folded his arms in a very Yami-like way, and stated, "Well, I don't remember much of anything, but I'm sure it had it's perks." He smiled at Mokuba.

"Hey! Speakin' of cool stuff," Mokuba began. "Check out what Seto got me for my birthday!"

Mokuba motioned to his rollerblades, and you and Yami saw that they were onyx black, and had a deep, reddish-purple lightning design on the sides that looked stretched out. The laces were a dark red, and the plastic straps were a red-violet. The wheels were with in the same schematic-color as the rest of the rollerblades.

"Those are some pretty nice 'blades," you said. "But you should see mine; they have the coolest water design on them."

Mokuba's eyes lit up. "You have rollerblades?! Do you know any tricks?! Can you teach me?!" he asked in that only-kids-can-do excitement.

"I'm nothing special, but I do know a few tricks," you began in a humbled tone. You were stopped only when Kaiba finally caught up with his brother and Mokuba's excitement went off the richter scale.

"Seto! Can she come over?! She knows some tricks! And she says she'll--!! Oh, well, will you teach me to do some tricks?"

"No prob; I'm okay with that."

"Mokuba," he began in his passively terse tone. "I have other things to do today, and besides, I'm sure __(y/n)__ has other things to do as well."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Mokuba said to you in a apologetic tone. "I didn't even introduce myself! I'm Mokuba Kaiba. I'm Seto's little brother."

"I'm __(y/n)__," you told him, smiling at what you said next. "And don't worry, I remember how excited I was when I got my first pair of roller blades."

You then turned to Kaiba.

"And, maybe I could come over another time to show Mokuba some tricks?" You heard Yami growl a little, but you ignored it. Mokuba was a nice kid, afterall...

You saw Kaiba's eyes move in Yami's direction; he smirked and reached into the inside of his dramatically-flared jacket and pulled out a business card to you in a very Duel Monsters fashion.

"Sure; here's my card. I'm usually at the office so that's probably the number you'll use to reach me. We can set up a date for you to come over."

"YES!!" you heard Mokuba semi-yell.

You took the business card from Kaiba and smiled. "Sounds good to me. I'll try to call soon."

And with that, Kaiba turned with a dramatic whip of his coat and took off down the sidewalk past you and Yami.

"Hey, Seto! Wait up!" and Mokuba took off after him too.

You turned to continue down the opposite way Kaiba and Mokuba went to continue on your way to the game shop.

"Well, we should probably get going..."

"What did I tell you about him?!" Yami snapped, while keeping your pace. "You tell _me_ I'm not allowed to stay the night over at your house because your life is in danger and here you are excepting _phone numbers_ from Kaiba?! What has he done for you?!"

You knew he'd take it the wrong way, but, you weren't going to try and argue that he was being a little over domineering again...

"Look, I know you don't like Kaiba for past reasons," you said in a nonchalant voice. "But he's been nothing short of nice to me, and besides: I'm just doing this for Mokuba. If you ask me, you're looking _far_ too into this."

You smiled arrogantly when Yami kept quiet after that comment. In fact, you thought that he seemed a little perturbed, and that's why he wasn't saying anything after your blunt reasoning.

He was like that all the way until you arrived at the game shop.

***********

You had bought two booster packs; and for some reason, Yami, Yugi, and Joey hadn't bought any. You thought that was strange, especially since they were the three most hardcore duelists you knew...

You took a seat at the small table in the game shop (the one where Yugi bandaged you up!), and went to rip open the first booster pack. Everyone seemed to be right behind you (including Tristan and Tea) to see what cards you got first hand.

You were always looking for new, really good trap and magic cards, but your first look-through of any booster pack was to see if you got any powerful monsters. Anticipation grew inside your stomach; you just had to get another good monster card!

As you fingered through the last couple of cards...you saw one with a load of stars. You put all the others on the table to get a good look at the card in your hand.

"Check it out!" Joey began. "Dat card's got eight stars!! Lemme see it!"

"Woah... Are you serious?" That was Tristan.

Joey snatched it from your hand before you could protest.

"It's attack izzat 2950 too! An' a defense of 2800!!"

"That's almost as powerful as Kaiba's Blue-Eyes!!" Tea added.

"Give back my card, Joey!" you warned, a little possessive. You didn't like people touching your stuff without permission...

"I wasn't gonna steal it 'er nothin'," Joey assured. He handed you back the card. "I jus' wanted t' see it."

"Sure, but you could ask first...," you mumbled while trying to say the name of your card. "How do you even say the name? Gogageega Gogageega-something?"

"Gogiga Gagagigo," you heard Yami state the name. "That's a very powerful card; I'm sure it'll work well in your deck." Yami put his hand on your shoulder.

You knew you weren't the only one in the room looking at Yami with a confused expression.

"Heh, try sayin' that ten times fast," Tristan dared.

"We can hardly say it once, though," Yugi admitted. "Hey! Open your other pack, __(y/n)__! Maybe you got other monsters!"

You nodded in excitement as you ripped open the other pack with much more fervor than the last. You hadn't even began fingering through when you saw that the first monster had stars almost to the end of the picture frame on the card. You just...kind of...stared at it in humbling majesty.

It was a hologram foil of a gray-furred sphinx monster, and it had the head of a woman with the most beautiful magenta-colored hair... And on her paw and neck were the remnants of broken chains that had held her captive.

You then noticed the name: Sphinx Teleia.

It was an odd feeling that traveled throughout your body. Goosebumps had formed on your arms and legs...

...Did you feel a connection to this monster?

Even if you did, it wasn't because the card had ten stars, or that it's stats read 2500/3000; it was the eyes of the monster on the card...they were calling out to you.

Suddenly, Yugi and Joey's shaking jarred you out of your thoughts. "WHAT?! Why are you guys--"

"We wanna see you duel!" they stated in unison.

"Huh?" you responded immediately with disbelief.

"Yeah!" Tea agreed. "With those high-level monsters in your deck, you probably have a great deck now!"

"What? I don't know if they'll even work well in my deck," you reasoned.

"All the more reason to test them out by dueling with them!" Tristan urged.

You sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Who am I dueling against?" Your face turned smug. "Can't be Joey, I'd squash him in an instant with my new cards..."

"WHAT?!" Joey growled out. "WE CAN DO DIS RIGHT NOW!!!"

"No," the firm voice of Yami said. Everyone turned to him to see what he was trying to get at. "I would like to duel __(y/n)__."

"Huh? But you'll totally own her, Yami," Tristan stated.

"Yeah, she doesn't have a chance against you," Tea agreed.

Your eye was twitching madly. "Oh thanks for the support, traitors..."

"Hey, that's not fair, guys," Yugi stood up for you. "Remember when __(y/n)__ went up against Jael? She held her own very well. I'm sure __(y/n)__ has learned more since then."

You sweatdropped.

"Actually, I haven't even looked at my deck in about two months."

Most of the inhabitants of the room fell to the floor.

"Are you SERIOUS?!" Joey spat. "An' you jus' said you'd beat me?! Let's do dis!"

"I said I was dueling her, Joey," Yami pointedly set a look in Joey's direction. "Marik used her deck to duel me, and I want to find out what __(y/n)__'s deck is capable of when it's in the right hands."

Yami sent you a smug look from where he was standing.

"Um, okay," you agreed a little hesitantly. "Just let me pick out the new cards I want in my deck first."

Yami nodded his head and came over to the table you were already seated at.

"This is going to be a really good duel," Yugi said.

************


	23. You vs Yami

***********

**Chapter 23:** _You vs. Yami_

***********

You knew Yami took dueling _very_ seriously. In fact, that was an understatement on the outlook he had.

In any case, it helped you build up your competitive streak. You hadn't been this determined to win since...well, never.

Or maybe it was Yami that brought out these things in you?

Or maybe it was just that you wanted to beat him at his own game because he had been bossing you around since the museum incident. You were one to hold grudges for the silliest things.

You did appreciate Yami saving your life and all, but taking it over was a step too far in your book. You had to have your space every once in a while!

You finished up shuffling your deck as Yami extended his deck on the table, as did you. You both performed the "deck cut" and returned each others' deck to their rightful owners.

"You may draw first," Yami told you from across the table, drawing his hand.

Yugi had got chairs for the rest of the gang; Yugi and Tristan sat on one side of the table together while Joey and Tea sat on the other. All in all, the closeness of everyone was tensing your bubble and you hoped that it wouldn't get to you during the duel.

"Thanks," you said to Yami's gentlemanly offer as you drew your hand. You then drew the first card to start the duel.

Looking at your hand, you tried to think of what the best move could be to start off with. Sword of Dark Destruction (equip/magic), Enchanted Javelin (trap), Non-Aggression Area (trap), Dancing Fairy (monster/effect), Trap Hole (trap), and Gravekeeper's Assailant (monster/effect).

After deliberating a bit, you finally spoke. "I'll play Dancing Fairy in attack mode, and then place a card face-down on the field." Your face down card was your Trap Hole.

You then set Yami a solemn look; he returned the gesture.

"You guys do know that this isn't a life or death battle kinda duel, right?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, we know," you began in a playful tone. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a little _friendly_ competition, right Yami?"

"I completely agree," Yami turned a sly look your way.

"Uh...dere actin' kinda weird," you heard Joey mutter.

"Well, I've heard competition is healthy for relationships," Tea offered.

"Yeah, it is!" Tristan agreed. "After all, how do you think you and Yugi became such close friends, Joey?"

"'Ey... What're you tryin' t' say, Tristan?" Joey set him a look from across the table.

Everyone blinked in the room, not quite sure at what Joey was getting at.

Tea smacked him upside the head. "Joey! You're such a _guy_ ; get your head out of the gutter for once!"

Everyone sweatdropped at Tea's quick reasoning; now knowing what Joey meant.

Yami cleared his throat. "In any case, I'll summon Muka Muka to the field in attack mode, and with it's affect, I receive 300 attack points for my monster for each card I have in my hand, bringing my monster to 2100 attack points."

"And that activated my trap card...Trap Hole," you stated simply. "Because it went over 1000 attack points, Trap Hole destroys your monster."

Yami's face didn't change; it was like he was expecting something like that this early in the duel from you.

"Then I end my turn by putting this card face down."

You set him a condescending glare; you bet he was trying to prevent you from attacking for at least one turn with that card... His face stayed straight and it was frustrating you.

You drew your next card, noticing that it was your new eight star monster, Gogiga Gagagigo. If you were dueling anyone else, you'd probably prance around the table, our at least give out a sly grin...but you were going up against Yami. Going up against Yami in games was always psychological, you could see that from his duel with Marik. So, as much as you wanted to let go and have a really friendly duel, you had to take this seriously. In a way, you kind of liked it this way; you'd never played with anyone so serious about the game before.

Glancing back down at your hand, you choose some cards to play.

"I place one monster card onto the field in attack mode, and then end my turn by placing another card face down."

If you had immediately played Gravekeeper's Assailant and your equip magic card right away and attacked, you could have taken out half of Yami's Life Points...but where was the fun in ending the duel so soon?

You looked to Yami to see that his face contorted into an odd look that he sent you.

"Do not hold back from me." It was almost like he was mad.

You gave him a meaningful glare. "Just draw your card so we can get on with this."

Yami drew his card, and then played two cards.

"I summon Ancient Elf in attack mode, and I activate this equip magic card...the Book of Secret Arts."

He set you a glare...he was still upset about your not attacking last turn.

"My Ancient Elf is now at 1750 attack points, enough to take out your Dancing Fairy, so I attack with my Ancient Elf!"

You smirked. That wasn't a very big dent.

"Your Life Points are now at 3950," he told you.

"I know... You done now?" you smiled at Yami, and it seemed that he liked the way you were acting; it was like by dueling him the true you was coming out. Yami nodded.

Drawing your next card, you saw that it was Sword of the Soul Eater (magic/equip). You mentally sighed, a little miffed that you couldn't use the card yet; you could only equip it to monsters of level 3 or lower. Oh well...

"I flip summon my Gravekeeper's Assailant and I also activate my equip card, Sword of Dark Destruction," you announced. "It takes my monster to 1900 attack points, and I attack your Ancient Elf, sending it to the graveyard."

Yami's Life Points were now at 3850... _you_ had the lead. You knew you should have been happier about being in the lead against Yami, the champion of Duelist Kingdom, but you were staying so cool about everything it was almost unnerving to you. This is what healthy competition must have been.

"And to end my turn, I'll play the trap card, Non-Aggression Area which prevents you from summoning any monster on your side of the field for one full turn."

You looked to see the look on Yami's face; he was smirking.

"That may cause a problem for me...," he said while drawing his next card. "But I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your trap card."

Oh well...

"Next I'll play the magic card, Monster Reborn and give life back to my Ancient Elf, summoning it to defense position. And end my turn by placing one card face down."

He then looked to you, knowing that he was seeing your slightly confused expression.

Why would he put Ancient Elf in defense position? It had weaker points of defense for Life Points in that position. Perhaps he was trying to beckon you to attack his monster so he could play the trap card he had hidden on the field?

Yes; that had to be it.

You drew your next card; Earthbound Spirit (monster).

"I'll summon Earthbound Spirit in defense and end my turn."

Your brow was still furrowed in analyzing confusion. Yami didn't look at you this time, but seemed he was more concentrated on his hand after he drew his next card.

"I'll activate my trap card, Reverse Trap, and it reverses the increases to your Gravekeeper's Assailant, and decreases it's attack to 1100," Yami said, now looking intently across the table at you. "It's now weaker than my monster. I switch Ancient Elf to attack position and attack!"

Your Life Points were now at 3600, but you weren't worried about that; the trap card Yami just used came from his hand...it wasn't the one still set on the field. Yami looked to you, signaling he was finished. You made a definite mental note about that trap card on the field as you drew your next card.

It was Paralyzing Potion (magic/equip). It would definitely be a nice equip card for one of Yami's high-level monsters, so you had decided to wait on using that. Instead you set one card face down (Enchanted Javelin).

For Yami's turn, he switched Ancient Elf to defense position, setting off your alarms again. He had to be trying to trap you to attack that monster!

You drew your next card, and it turned out to be Black Pendant (magic/equip). You decided it was too early in the duel to use it, besides, you didn't have a great monster of attack power to use it on yet; Earthbound Spirit was all defense. You ended up skipping your turn.

Yami drew his next card, and then set a monster on the field. "I set this monster on the field, and then flip summon it for the effect."

It was Big Eye (monster/effect).

"I can see the first five cards on my deck and arrange them in anyway I want."

As Yami was doing so, you had wondered why the rest of the people in the room weren't commenting; it was like they were scared to break both of your guys' concentration. Or maybe the intensity of the duel auras between you and Yami were scaring them. You assumed that's what it was.

Yami had ended his turn after he proceeded with his monster's effect. You drew your next card.  
It was Metal-Armored Bug!

Too bad it needed two sacrifices to summon it, and you didn't have two sacrifices... Oh well. It wasn't that big of a loss to your strategy right now. Besides, after Yami got to arrange the cards in his deck, you had a pretty good hunch that he was planning something big. He hadn't played any high-level monsters yet, so he was probably planning on doing that. Now would be the best time to set the Paralyzing Potion onto the field.

"I set one card face down and end my turn," you said simply.

Yami set you a slight look before drawing his card. Then, he grinned; that was usually something bad for the opponent, but you calmed yourself.

"I sacrifice my two monsters on the field to summon, Gaia the Fierce Knight and attack your Earthbound Spirit!"

Perfect...

"You've activated my trap card, Enchanted Javelin," you announced proudly.

You saw that Yami's eyes had finally stretched to surprise. And you heard the others gasp dramatically at the play.

"So, instead of my monster being destroyed, my Life Points raise by the attack power of your monster...which would be 2300. My Life Points are now at 5900."

You grinned arrogantly. Yami smiled despite what had just happened. "That's a clever trap card."

You just smiled. "Okay, I'm drawing my next card!"

It was the field card...Yami. For some odd reason, you felt compelled to the card...  
Yami; didn't it mean darkness? Why would Yami have his name _that_ of all things?

You quickly snapped out of it. Now would be the perfect time to play your magic card, and debilitate his monster.

"I activate my magic card, Paralyzing Potion. And I equip it to Gaia; it prevents it from attack as long as that equip card is attached to it."

Yami seemed to smirk in delight. You knew he wasn't liking the predicaments you were putting him in, but it was like he was enjoying them just as much, if not more. Nevertheless, Yami didn't brood upon the situation you had put him in, and he drew his next card.

"I'll put one card face down and end my turn," he stated simply.

You drew a card; Change of Heart.

It was odd, you thought, that the card Yami gave you, you would use against him. You shook your head; you were thinking too much of it.

Well, you would use that card right away, but with Yami's only monster on the field being paralyzed of attack the card would be useless. Besides, you'd have to wait for the right monster to take control of to leave Yami begging.

Wait, "begging"? You really were getting too serious about this...

Yami then took his turn, smiling at you devilishly.

"I summon Silver Fang in attack mode and tribute it to bring Summon Skull onto the field! And I attack your Earthbound Soul!"

Your Life Points had gone down to 5400. And then he grinned at you like he knew he was going to have a come back...

Drawing your next card, you found it to be Marie the Fallen One (monster/effect). It had the perfect effect for your plan; if you could just keep getting your Life Points up and work Yami's down, perhaps you could really beat this guy!

And Summon Skull was exactly the monster you needed to get rid of Gaia and inflict some damage...

"I play the magic card, Change of Heart." You looked to Yami with that same sly grin you had recently.

"And I take control of Summon Skull and attack your monster!"

"I'm afraid you've activated my trap card, Reinforcements," he said in a mocking tone. "It raises my monster's attack points by 500 for the turn it is activated. And since it now has a higher attack power, Summon Skull is destroyed, leaving you at 5100 Life Points."

...

Dammit! Now that was just annoying!

Especially when he was grinning like a maniac!

**********


	24. You vs Yami (2)

**********

 **Chapter 24:** _You vs. Yami (2)_

**********

You suppressed a glare from Yami when he took down your "take control of his Summon Skull" strategy. However, trying not to furrow your brow in anger just couldn't be done. It was now Yami's turn, and he drew his card.

"I'll set one card face down."

You inhaled deeply, trying to clear your mind of your frustration. Then, you drew your next card; it was Princess of Tsurugi. Okay, since Yami liked Trap cards so much, might as well hit him where it hurt... You set Princess of Tsurugi in attack mode on the field.

And Yami skipped his next turn.

The next card you drew was A Man with Wdjat, and it had an excellent effect to use against Yami. But you had something else to do first...

"I flip summon Princess of Tsurugi, and inflict 1000 points of damage to your Life Points," you stated a little arrogantly. "Then I'll sacrifice both Marie the Fallen One and Princess of Tsurugi to summon Gogiga Gagagigo onto the field and end my turn. And because of Marie's effect, my Life Points raise by 200 for my second Standby Phase."

Your Life Points were now at 5300, and Yami's was at 2850.

Yami gave you a strange look, but then smiled. He knew you were stringing out the effect of your Paralysis Potion on his Gaia, so that's why you didn't attack him.

But he gave you a sickeningly sweet smile when he drew his next card. "I summon Feral Imp to the field! Then I'll activate my trap card, Two Pronged Attack, letting me sacrifice two of my own monsters to destroy one yours."

Since your only monster on the field was Gogiga Gagagigo, it was destroyed. Now it was your turn, and Yami was wide open.

"That was a pretty risky move, Yami. You're now wide open for attack."

"It's a chance I'll have to take," he told you simply.

Drawing your next card, you picked up the trap card, Draining Shield. Alright! Now there was no way that one trap card Yami had could back fire on you!

"I summon A Man with Wdjat to the field, and it's effect lets me see one of your face down cards as long as I return it to it's original position," you said and proceeded to look at Yami's face down trap card; it was Castle Walls. It definitely would have been a nice bluff, but luckily you had this effect.

"I will also play the field card Yami, and then attack with my monster, which is now at 1800!"

Yami's Life Points when down to 1050.

"And I'll end my turn by setting this card face down," you cut the ego-dramatics. You were done letting him know that you liked it when he squirmed.

Yami drew his card and played Mystical Elf in defense mode. He was putting up a temporary shield until he could get a new strategy. You knew that because you did it yourself. Besides, you couldn't attack if you wanted to; he would activate Castle Walls and then the field card you set would raise Mystical Elf's defense a lot.

You drew another card; it was Dreamsprite! Okay, hopefully Arcane Archer would come up soon, and you could use a nice strategy to put Yami down...

For Yami's turn, he just set another trap card and summoned Penguin Soldier.

Next, it was your turn again, and you had drawn Gearfried the Iron Knight. You summoned him onto the field.

"And for as long as A Man with Wdjat stays on the field, I can look at one face down card per turn, so I choose to look at your other face down card."

You found it to be Waboku, and you chose not to attack because of it.

Yami's turn came again. "I sacrifice my Penguin Soldier to summon Curse of the Dragon." He still couldn't attack you unless he wanted to lose his monster.

Drawing your next card you found it to be Graceful Charity. You immediately put that to play. You drew three cards; Inferno Tempest, Shield and Sword, and Legendary Jujitsu Master. You kept Shield and Sword and discarded the other two that you had picked up, wanting to keep the rest of your hand for you strategy.

"I'll sacrifice both my Gearfried and my Man with Wdjat to summon Metal Armored Bug," you announced. "Then I'll equip it with Black Pendant and set another card face down to end my turn."

You would have attacked, but you wanted to see if you could get a card that would negate the effect of his Waboku trap card.

Yami drew a card. "I'll set this monster card and then flip for it's effect." You gawked when you saw it was Princess of Tsurugi. Yami just smirked at you.

So, because you had a two face down cards and an equip magic card, your Life Points went down by 1500 points, leaving you at 3600. More than a little miffed at Yami's move, you drew your next card.

It was Arcane Archer of the Forest! Alright! Now Yami would pay!

"I set one monster card face down," it was Dreamsprite in attack mode. It was better if that one was down first because if he attacked it, you could redirect the attack because of the card's effect.

Now, you were going to attack with Armored Bug anyway, just to get rid of that Waboku trap card so that next time, you could just take out his monsters and Life Points. "And I attack with my Metal Armored Bug to your Princess of Tsurugi."

"You didn't forget about my trap card Waboku, did you?" Yami's mocking tone filled your ears.

You almost snapped back at him as you said, "I just wanted that trap card out of the way. Now hurry up and go already..."

Yami drew his card as he smiled at your underlying impatience.

"I'll play Diane Keto the Cure Master and raise my Life Points by 1000. Then I'll place another card face down," then he gave you a glinting eye. "And because you used your Man with Wdjat for a tribute, you won't be able to see what it is this time."

...He was teasing you! Why that--

You glared at him harshly as you drew your next card. His smile only widened. You picked up Spatial Collapse...

Well, that definitely didn't have a use right now, so you just kept that in your hand.

"I flip summon Dreamsprite and then summon Arcane Archer to the field. And with this combo, the only monster you'll be able to attack is my Metal Armored Bug!"

You knew Yami knew this strategy; it was the same one you used against Joey. Dreamsprite could redirect any attack it took to another monster on the field. Arcane Archer couldn't be attacked if a plant type monster was on the field. So that left Yami with only being able to attack your souped up bug of 3500 attack points.

"And I attack your Princess of Tsurugi with my Metal Armored Bug!"

"Not so fast, __(y/n)__!" Yami stopped you. "I activate the magic card, Block Attack! Your Bug may have a big attack power, but it's defense is only 1500, and Black Pendant does nothing to raise defense."

"Well then I'll activate Shield and Sword, switching my attack power as the defense and vice versa. Your monster still doesn't have a chance," you leered at him. He smirked, which filled you with surprise; he had something else!

"It's true my monster doesn't stand a chance against an attack power of 3500, but I can lessen the damage to my Life Points by using the trap card Castle Walls," Yami announced. "Instead of my Life Points falling by 2600, it'll only fall by 1900."

Yami was now at 150 Life Points.

Dammit! You could have killed him and won! But as long as Yami had Life Points, he was a dangerous opponent. And when he was close to losing, you had a feeling he'd play severely well.

Yami drew his next card and smirked at you. "Your reign of leading has come to an end, __(y/n)__," he said arrogantly. You knew he was doing it to piss you off. Well, it was working. "I set this monster face down and flip for the effect! And it's Man-Eater Bug, so I can destroy one monster on your side of the field and I choose your strongest one over there; your Metal Armored Bug."

Your eyes went wide, momentarily. This was bad... Not because Yami had defeated your seemingly invincible monster, but because the effects of Dreamsprite and your Arcane Archer could direct his attack in only one direction...

You shook your head clear.

No. You couldn't think like that.

Maybe you'd get another monster card...

Drawing your next card, you found it wasn't a monster card, but it was Castle Walls. Well, maybe you could bluff and Yami wouldn't attack you!

"I put on card face down," which was your castle walls. "And I switch Arcane Archer to defense position."

You saw Yami smirk at you when he drew his next card; okay! You were officially going to lose!

Yay.

"I sacrifice Princess of Tsurugi and Mystical Elf to summon...my Dark Magician to the field!"  
Well, damn. He definitely wasn't going to be reserved about attacking you now.

"First I'll attack with Curse of the Dragon," Yami stated.

"And that activates my trap card Shield Drain," you replied quickly. "My Life Points go up equal to the attack points of your attacking monster, so I'm not back at 5600 Life Points."

"That may be," Yami went on. "But I also attack with my Dark Magician, and because of your monsters' effects, the attack can only be directed to your Life Points."

Damn! You were hoping he wouldn't figure that out... Of course, it was blatantly obvious though...

"And you're now at 2900," Yami chided.

Your eye twitched. "I can count, _Yami_."

Drawing your next card...it still wasn't a monster; it was the trap card Waboku. _'Well, might as well go down fighting. He'll have me out when I'm done with my turn.'_

"I set one card face down."

Yami drew his card, not really paying attention to it, and set to work. "I summon Beaver Warrior to the field and attack."

"And that activates my trap card, Waboku," you said none-too-enthusiastically.

"And then I'll also attack with my Curse of Dragon and Dark Magician, taking you down to 0," Yami proclaimed brightly.

You went to sigh, but you were cut off by some semi non-energetic clapping. Everyone turned to see a certain bleach-blonde haired someone with piercing amethyst eyes.

Your whole body went stiff, and you could've swore that you stopped breathing when you stood up in panic from the table.

Everyone else had darted to their feet as well, and Joey had jumped in front of you. "Whadda you want?"

Yami had started towards him, only stopping when he reached the same ground as Joey.

"State your business, Marik," he grounded out in contempt.

"Please don't be angry with me," Marik's voice surprisingly didn't hold that say dark tone that it had when you first met him. "I actually came to apologize and to thank __(y/n)__ for ridding me of my dark side."

Yami nodded simply, and took you by the arm, leading you outside the front door of the game shop. "I think we'll need to speak with you alone," Yami said, eyeing Marik warily.

Marik followed the two of you outside.

The others knew Yami meant just the three of you, so they didn't follow...

...But that didn't stop them from pressing their ears against the glass of the game shop windows once you were outside.

**********


	25. Eyes

**********

**Chapter 25:** _Eyes_

**********

You were indifferent to the whole situation, but it was hard to miss the tense, stand-off atmosphere both Yami and Marik were emitting from each other. It was oddly surreal; the fact that someone who wanted to just about kill you for the Signet, was back here in front of you trying to ask for your forgiveness.

It was also very hard to miss Odion's superior form a ways from where Marik was standing. Of course, you noticed Marik's different outfit; black cargo pants with that mid-drift-ish lavender shirt... But how could Odion stand this heat in that black robe?

"Alright, Marik," Yami spat out almost in contempt. "What are you doing here? Isis told me you wouldn't bother us again."

Marik folded his arms against his chest; not arrogantly, but more in the way that he knew he might be here a while.

"My sister always says things like that; she thinks that she's protecting me that way." He looked towards you and Yami directly. "But __(y/n)__ freed me of my darker half, and I'm here to thank her. You have no idea how grateful I am for that."

He sounded very serious to you; and you were actually willing to forgive him... But you had to see his eyes. You just had a thing with people who seemed suspicious; for you to believe them, you had to see their eyes. But did you really want to hear Yami protest when you decided to go over there and talk to him?

Well, it would be rude to just turn Marik down if he really was here to apologize...

So, with an impending footstep, you started towards Marik...and of course, Yami's mouth went off.

"__(y/n)__, what are you doing?"

You stopped momentarily, spinning on your heal. "Look, you'll be right here," you argued.

"Besides, if he was going to try anything he would've already done it."

Well, you weren't really certain on that part, but it sounded good. You turned to continue.

It was only a little ways to Marik, and that's why you mentally sighed at Yami's antics. Even if he did try something he wouldn't be able to get far without a fight from Yami.

Subconsciously, you knew you were still a little disturbed when he tried to stab you with the Millennium Rod. You put your hand to your thigh.

"It hasn't healed up all the way, has it?" Marik queried lowly. You immediately looked straight to his eyes as if by speaking it had allowed you to look at him. "I'm...sorry."

You saw his brows furrow in disgust.

"I'm just...GAH!" he growled in frustration. "All of this was my fault! And I hurt innocent people...and you the most. I was even thinking about killing you to get the Signet."

You swallowed a little harder after hearing that, but you knew that he was genuinely sorry. His eyes didn't hold that harsh undertone it had when you first saw him, and they looked softer like they were actually capable of emotion.

"But," he began, a little less frustrated and sad. "I just wanted to apologize to you for all the trouble I've caused. I know out of anyone, I've caused you the most." He looked around temporarily in a wandering way. "And even though you should have let me suffer, you helped me be purified; and I thank you for that." He turned back to you intently.

You flushed from the praise, and waved your hand dismissively. "Oh, I dunno about all that... I mean, I wasn't even aware that I was even doing anything!"

Marik startled you by grasping your hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't be modest," he ushered a little urgently. "I know you didn't realize it at the time, but the only person who could have possibly saved me was someone who could understand me. And believe me, understanding is a truly powerful power."

You had no idea what to say. Obviously Marik thought a lot of your situation. Which, he didn't even know what you had been through, nor you what he had. "But we don't even know--"

"I know both of us don't know the details," Marik explained. "But it's that quiet, underlying feeling of understanding that I'm grateful for. You have no idea what my life has been for me, but I thank you for that." He paused before continuing. "And that's why I want you to have this..."

Marik raised one hand, a signal for Odion to uncover what he was holding...

"The Millennium Rod?!" you exclaimed.

"Yes. I want you to have it; it has done nothing good for me, and I believe it will do well in your hands," Marik explained.

Odion came over and handed the item to Marik in his outstretched hand. Marik then offered the Rod for you to take.

"Please, accept this as my thank you and apology."

You hesitated, being overwhelmed by all of it.

When you didn't take it right away, Marik forced it into your hands, opening your hands with his, and closed his hands on top of yours, making you clasp it. You noticed how warm his hands were. You remembered them being so cold when they were around your neck...

" _Please_ ," Marik beckoned. "I'll feel guilty about everything if you don't take it, and I don't want to. I want to be forgiven, I want to move on with my life!"

"But I do forgive you!" you exclaimed. "You don't have to give me anything for me to accept your apology!"

He looked a little heartbroken at that fact...

"But if you want me to have it, I'll take it." Marik's eyes immediately shined in appreciation, letting your hand go. He nodded quickly, smiling. His eyes seemed to sparkle when he did.

"Thank you."

"Our time is spent here, Marik," Odion called softly. "Your sister will be expecting us home soon."

"Right," he then turned to you. "Thank you for everything, but it seems I have to go. Perhaps we can talk another time?"

"I'd like that!" you told him. He nodded and he turned to leave with Odion.

Yami came up to you as you watched Marik and Odion go. You knew he was waiting for an answer.

"Marik did just as he said," you explained calmly, with a secret smile. "He apologized for the trouble he caused, and thanked me for understanding his situation. He wanted me to have the Millennium Rod."

If Yami didn't have such noble gestures about him, you could have swore that his mouth would have been slack-jawed. "Then...perhaps you really did rid him of his dark side. He would have never given up the Millennium Rod before that."

You would have continued your thoughts, but the others came bursting out of the front game shop door, with Joey yelling, "What happened?!"

You could only sweatdrop at them as Yami stood back to let you answer all the questions.

Was it just you, or was he suddenly in a foul mood?

**********


	26. Summer Rain

**********

**Chapter 26:** _Summer Rain_

**********

"Are you serious?!" Tristan exclaimed. "He just GAVE it to you?!"

You only nodded as the rest of the gang held you up outside. You kept glancing towards Yami who was a little ways from you and the surrounding on-comers of Joey, Tristan, and Tea. You could only tell Yami had his back turned and mostly likely had his arms folded against his chest.

"Dat's new," Joey said, more talking to himself aloud (for everyone to hear...). "I doubt Bakura would ever do dat fer us."

"That's because Bakura's dark side is actually part of the Ring," Tea explained. "Remember what Isis said? She said that Marik's dark side was born out of pure hatred of his father."

You almost flinched when you heard her say that; it wasn't that you hadn't heard it before, but the fact that something like that was able to happen...

You didn't want to think about it. But then Bakura.... "Um, guys? You never told me everything about Bakura, come to think of it."

"Well, ya see," Tristan stepped in. "Bakura's actually a really nice guy, but that other side of him is like his total opposite or something!"

"Yeah!" Yugi followed suit. "His Ring can track other Millennium Items and that's why he was always after my Puzzle."

You swore you paled after hearing that, looking down at the Rod in your hands.

" 'Ey!" Joey said playfully to get you out of your stupor, while getting you in a one-armed buddy hug. "Ya don't gotta worry 'bout scary Bakura comin' after ya; You got us an' Yami t' look after ya!"

You glanced over to where Yami was standing; he still wasn't looking at you. You sighed reluctantly but then brightened when you asked, "How about you all stay at my place tonight? I haven't seen you guys in such a long time... It'll be fun! We can watch movies and stuff!"

All agreed and then hurriedly rushed back into the game shop to clean up their mess.

Knowing Yami would be in a very stubborn mood, you walked over to him.

"Yami, what's up? Why are you acting so moody?"

"You're afraid Bakura's going to come after you," he stated with his eyes closed. "That's why you invited everyone over."

You flushed at him finding you out. So what if you were a little uneasy?! You were carrying an Item and the other's just said he could track them! And you didn't want to have the same run-in as last time...

You then smiled despite your blush. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

Yami finally opened his eyes, giving you a smug grin while walking towards the game shop.

"Not unless I will it to."

You sighed playfully. "I swear, you're so condescendingly arrogant it kills me..."

**********

So everyone was piled in your living room, blankets and pillows for everyone. You had moved the couch, lounge chair, and coffee table so that everyone could have a full view of the screen.

Yugi and Joey were in front, and then there was the disorganized row in the back of Tea, you, Yami, and Tristan. You had all ordered pizza, and there were two empty boxes on the floor, and then another one, which was the half eaten one that Joey was still working on.

You were currently by the entertainment stand which held the big screen t.v., and calling out names of movies.

"What about...," you said, skimming through the titles with your finger. "Dreamcatcher?"

Tristan and Joey immediately said in girly, lisp voices, "Hated it!"

You all laughed from the familiar joke.

"Well," you said recovering from laughter. "What about Liar, Liar?"

"I've never seen that," Yugi admitted meekly.

You gawked at him. "You HAVEN'T seen it?! It's only the funniest movie, EVER!"

"Me an' Joey've seen it 30 times though...on video!" Tristan said.

"And that's a bad thing?" you challenged. "I've seen it 45 times...49 if you count the times I saw   
it in the theaters and adding together all the minutes I watched my favorite parts."

Everyone was looking at you like you were insane. You blushed a little. "What?"

Then you noticed something that they may have not seen. "What about Anger Management? I know you guys couldn't have seen this, not when all those other action movies were out when it was in theaters."

"What's wit th' comedy?" Joey scrunched up his nose. "Where are th' action movies?"

"Because everyone can agree on a comedy," you stated matter-of-factly. "What if Tea didn't want to see some gory film of doom?"

Joey snorted derisively. "Tea don't matter."

He received a prompt kick in the back.

" 'Ey! I was jus' kiddin'!" Joey reacted, rubbing his sore back. "Can't a guy have a little fun?"

You had already put the movie in (Anger Management) and had taken your spot back between Tea and Yami, pulling your covers up while you sat Indian style.

Joey decided to eat his pizza dramatically at the start of the movie, keeping his pizza in the air and sticking his tongue out, trying to eat it while it was elevated.

"Joey," Yami warned from behind.

That was weird; that was the first thing he had said all evening...

"Down in front!" Tristan called and pushed Joey a bit with his foot.

You couldn't help but smile when Joey started choking for air; Tristan got him in the stomach.

**********

Over the course of the night, Tristan and Joey finally made you put in The Matrix to satisfy their "dudely needs" as Joey had put it. Of course then, Yami had to see the other two because he liked the plot and wanted to see what happened. (Only Yami...)

In other words, you had gotten to bed real late, but everyone somehow still got up kind of early. Must have been the effects of getting up early for school...

Anyways, everyone had finished eating, well, the people with normal stomachs. Joey and Tristan were still at the outskirt bar-counter chomping down on some random boxes of cereal you had pulled out for them.

You were currently doing the dishes, as you had prepared some breakfast for everyone. Glancing up at Joey and Tristan, you sighed and sweatdropped. _'Well, at least I know I can get rid of the leftovers...'_

Suddenly, Yami had come up to the bar counter and took a seat, leaving that extra seat between himself and the food-annihilators as a buffer (there are four seat at the counter). You would have greeted him but he looked far away at the moment, like he was thinking.

Come to think of it, he had been acting strange since yesterday...

But you pushed it aside, assured that you could pester him about it once he was done with his mood, so you just continued with the dishes.

Yugi and Tea were watching t.v., so, it was just you and the dishes. But even though it was quiet (not taking in Joey and Tristan eating), you really liked it this way, knowing that you had friends here with you.

Suddenly, Yami's voice came out of nowhere.

"__(y/n)__...would you mind going to a movie with me today?"

You almost dropped the pan you were cleaning, and you knew that your face was a bright red.  
Joey and Tristan had stopped eating, looking wide-eyed at Yami. Yugi and Tea were just about the same way from where they were at. Then, Joey spat out his food...at poor Tristan, in amazement.

"I never thought he'd do it!"

"Ugh! That's great Joey!" Tristan managed while wiping the stuff off his shirt. "But I have enough food; no need to share!"

You were staring at Yami, not sure what to say. "Um..."

"Did I ask it wrong?" Yami queried aloud.

"Oh, no!" you finally fumbled out. "I'd love to go to a movie with you...!" Your face got hotter.

Joey and Tristan high-fived each other, and mocked:

"Ain't it cute, Tristan?"

"Yes! Our little Pharaoh is growing up!"

You felt your face get hotter, now feeling a bit uncomfortable under all of the praise.

Suddenly, there was a loud "SMACK!" and then Joey and Tristan's faces were planted in their cereal bowls, milk and cereal splattered about on the counter. You then saw Tea, stressmarking above them with a paper fan made from a newspaper. Yugi was beside her, his hands raised, looking more than a little frightened.

"It's called _tact_ , and you two would do well to get acquainted with it!" Tea explained in a dead-pan anger.

"Come on, guys...," Yugi tried meekly. "You're making a mess..."

*********

So with Tea's help of getting, namely Joey and Tristan to leave your apartment, you and Yami were off to see...Kill Bill 2 (^^').

Of course, Yami had been the perfect gentlemen. He paid for everything, and didn't make a move on you (because you were beginning to wonder if Tristan and Joey were telling him to speak up...so you were never for sure of anything with those two calling the shots).

Now it was after the movie and you were now emerging from the dark theater, adjusting your eyes to the sunlight. It was dusk, but it was still bright enough to cause some irritation after being in a dark room.

"So did you like it?" Yami asked you.

"Oh yeah," you smiled back. "It made a lot more sense than the first one; it seemed so random."

You had began to walk home as you answered, now noticing that the sun was fading fast behind the horizon. Suddenly, you felt sprinkles on your face as you and Yami neared a cover station for a bus stop. As soon as you and Yami had reached it, it began to steadily come down.

"Those weather reporters are never right!" you grumbled. "If they were paid by how accurate they were, they'd be poor!"

"It's a summer rain," Yami said softly as he looked up.

"'Summer rain'?" you queried and looked at him. He then turned to you momentarily.

"Yes, Yugi told me that in the summer, sometimes it will rain peacefully like it's doing now," Yami finished and then looked back up again. "He says it rarely happens anymore, but when it   
does that it gives you a very serene feeling."

Suddenly, you heard a bicycle bell ring loudly, and three kids on bicycles sped by, somehow only splashing you. The front of your shirt was soaked.

"Somehow, my serene feeling has gone away...," you mumbled. Then you heard some light chuckling.

Yami was laughing at you!

"It's not funny!" you exclaimed. He only laughed harder.

"I'll show _you_ what's funny!" you warned him, stepping out of the cover and next to the puddle the bicyclist splashed through earlier. You promptly kicked the puddle, sending a little wave of water clinging to Yami's pants.

Yami immediately stopped laughing, and saw he was giving you a very serious glare. Honestly, you were scared that you had offended him...

"It's on now," you heard him say.

A smile found your lips as Yami quickly came out and kicked some more water at you. You laughed a little as you tried to dodge it, not really sure why you were trying to in the first place since you were soaked from standing out in the rain for that short time.

Yami was also soon to be soaked, as you played around in the rain, enjoying the muggy air and the cool rain hitting your skin. It was funny though, seeing Yami's hair drooping a bit from the heavy rain soaking into it, and his clothes sticking to him.

Of course, you couldn't have been in a better condition; you felt your clothes and hair were just about plastered to you!

You and Yami had returned to the bus station cover, now breathing a little harder, a lot wetter, and now out of the rain for the time being.

"So...are we going to wait until the rain stops to walk home?" you asked, looking out in the blanketed city of rain.

Yami didn't answer.

"Yami?" you questioned, finally turning to him. You saw that he was looking at you... Not in a creepy way, but he seemed to be looking at you...lovingly?

"Yami?" you tried again, flushing at the stare.

"You're...beautiful," he said softly, closing the gap between you two. Your face got hotter, and you had suddenly lost your voice, getting stuck in his eyes.

He took one hand and brushed your wet hair from the sides of your face, then taking his hand and tenderly cupped your cheek, rubbing his thumb against your skin.

"You're...so beautiful," he said again, then taking his other hand and cupping it to the other side of your face, lowering his head down to yours...

Then you felt his lips on yours, gingerly, put they were there...on yours. Your stomach felt aflutter and your heart had sped up quickly.

He kept kissing you; slightly pulling away, and opening his mouth ever-so-slightly, but then come back to just kiss you on the lips again.

Finally, he left one to linger, and slowly pulled apart...

But you couldn't!

So you just embraced him, negative thoughts running through your head. _'But...he was a spirit, wasn't? Yugi's past life? Won't he have to leave?'_

Yami slowly enveloped you too, bringing you closer to him. You could feel him, his warmth; that same warmth that made you feel safe... What would you do if he had to leave?

"Yami...," you spoke meekly. "You're not going to...leave, are you?"

You could feel his concerned eyes boring into you. "What? What are you talking about? I'd never leave you..."

"But...you're Yugi's past life, right? You can't coexist forever, can you? Doesn't that go against some universal law?" you queried and looked up to him.

Yami pulled him off of you gently so he could look at you clearly. He smiled.

"I keep forgetting that you weren't awake for what Isis told me at the museum," he said light-hardheartedly. "Isis said the box that Yugi's grandfather found calls back Millennium Items, but Yugi's bond with me was so strong, that it prevented it from calling me back. Besides, Isis also told me that I must teach Yugi the wisdom that I have. After all, I can't save the world forever; I'm alive again. So that also means I can die."

You didn't know what to say, but you just hugged him again. _'So he's not going to leave!'_

The rain let up a little while after that.

***********


	27. Game Face

**********

 **Chapter 27:** _Game Face_

**********

When the rain had finally let up, you and Yami decided to head back again. It turned out that you where much closer to the game shop than what you had originally thought.

It was getting cooler after the rain as well as darker, and Yami said that the both of you had better go get some dry clothes on or you'd both get sick.

As soon as you knew it, you had reached the game shop in no time at all. And once the little bell rang when you opened the door, Grandpa came out from the back room and saw both of you very wet.

"Goodness!" he exclaimed, making his way to the both of you. "You're both soaked to the bone! You must have got caught out in the rain on your way back."

For some reason, your face grew a little hot as he said that...taking more interest in the old floor boards of the game shop. Gee, those were interesting rivulets!

Suddenly, Grandpa's voice broke you out of your stupor. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced yet; I'm Yugi and Yami's grandfather. But you can call me Mr. Moto if you'd like."

"I'm __(y/n)__," you greeted politely with a smile.

"Well, c'mon!" he ushered. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes before you catch cold!"

"But, uh...," you hesitated, now realizing something. You scratched your cheek with your finger in a nervous manner. "Um...what am I supposed to wear?"

"Oh, I'm sure Yugi has something that could fit you," Grandpa brushed off easily. "You look to be about his height. Speaking of which, Yugi's here, but he just went out to take the trash out, so he should be right back."

As if on cue, Yugi came in. "Oh, hey guys!"

"Yugi, could you see if you could lend __(y/n)__ here a pair of clothes for the night?" Grandpa said more in a statement-like tone.

"Yeah, sure. Follow me," he said and went behind the backroom with you. Yami followed as well.

Once through the door, you saw it was opened to a considerably large living room area. There was a half kitchen to the left, and straight ahead (not counting the coffee table, couch and t.v. in the middle of the room) was a set of wooden stairs, leading up to a little hallway that seemed to branch off.

After staring a bit at the quaint but homey abode, you followed Yugi upstairs. When you reached the top, Yami went to the left and you followed Yugi to the right. It was a small hallway, so it didn't take long to reach his room. Not wanting to intrude, you just stood at the doorway.

Yugi was digging through his dresser as you caught a desk almost directly in front of you adorned by a window above it. His bed was to the left, and it was relatively clean except for some scattered something-or-others here or there.

"Here ya go," Yugi said while pushing in the last of the drawers with his hip, still extending the articles of clothing to you. Of course, he gave you that "Yugi smile" which said that he was happy that you were here!

You couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks," you replied and took the clothes.

"The bathroom's down the hall on your right," Yugi informed, pointing a finger. "You can hang up your wet clothes on the railing in there."

"Oh, okay."

"See ya down stairs, then." You nodded as he left, leaving you to hear a fading "thump thump" noise as he went down the stairs.

You found the bathroom quite easily, going in, flipping on the lights (right next to the doorknob), and shutting the door behind you. It was like any Japanese bathroom would look like; the area where you washed and then towards the end was the tub that was filled with hot water; it was usually used to relax.

There was a little table right next to the door, and you set the small pile of clothes Yugi gave you on it. Picking up the first article, you found it to be a pair of faded, black sweatpants. _'A-OK with me...'_

Next, was an extremely faded yellow shirt; it almost looked like a yellowish-cream color, and it had some lettering on it in faded red: "No. 1 Duelist!"

You sweatdropped. _'Somehow, I think Yugi gave this to me on purpose...'_

You put the clothes on quickly just the same.

Despite the clothes being a little baggier than what you usually wore, they fit pretty good, but you just felt like you were being given a lot of space in them. But, you didn't let that bother you, and you just headed down the stairs.

When you finally reached the bottom, you saw Yugi on the couch, probably the one making the t.v. flicker so many times (remote...). Then you saw Yami look up to you from where he was stretched out on the ground next to the coffee table. One leg was stretched out, the other was pulled up a bit, and he was laying back, only propped up by one forearm. He had changed into some semi-loose navy pants and a white t-shirt.

Yami glanced at you lazily and smirked. "Cute shirt..."

Yugi then turned around, looking a little hesitant. "I thought you'd like it," he stated innocently.  
"If you'd like, I can get you another if you don't want to wear it."

"No, I'm fine," you waved him off. "I don't want to put you through any trouble or anything..."

"Dinner's ready!" a voice chirped happily.

You had failed to miss Grandpa Moto in the half kitchen. He set out a plate of sandwiches on the outer counter for you all to get. "I thought you'd want something quick."

"Thanks, Grandpa," Yugi said in a delighted tone.

**********

The t.v. was off, and the ceiling fan light was on, creating a tense atmosphere within the room. You, Yami and Yugi were sitting at the coffee table, playing cards in hand.

Yami was directly in front of you; he was the dealer this turn. Yugi was to your right.

You looked down at your cards, re-positioning yourself in a semi-nervous manner by shifting your legs from underneath you, keeping your elbows propped up on the table. You had two kings; what Yami had won with about three hands ago. And there had been a recent display of certain face cards that had beaten you, so you had a chance at finally winning a round. Why not go with it?

...You raised your bet with three more pieces of candy. (^_^)

Yami gave you a watchful eye. "We're certainly confident, I see..."

"I should be for what I have in my hand this time..."

"Then I raise you five." You turned to see Yugi looking determined.

Yami smirked. "I raise you ten."

You put in the rest of your candy (all accounted for eleven pieces and an empty wrapper). All or nothing! Besides...you were getting tired.

Then you laid down your cards. "Two of a kind: kings."

Yugi then laid down his cards. He smiled a bit hesitantly. "Sorry, __(y/n)__, but I've got a Full  
House."

...Then Yami laid down his as you let your head sink to the table.

"Royal Flush...," he pronounced, and then claimed the pot of candy, adding it to the rest that he had already won.

"Wow. Again, Yami?" you heard Yugi comment.

"I can't believe this...," you mumbled into the table. "I didn't even win once! Come to think of it, I haven't won anything since I met you guys, especially Duel Monsters."

"Cheer up, __(y/n)__," Yugi tried. "You won when you went up against that Rare Hunter, right?"

You gave him a dark look, your face still on the table.

"Oh wait...," he rubbed the back of his head.

You sighed. "Well, I guess I'm going to get to bed."

"You can take my room," Yami said as he stood, leaving the candy pile on the table. "I'll take the couch."

"Oh no! I'll be fine here on the couch," you said hurriedly. "You can have your room. Besides, I'd feel kind of weird sleeping in someone else's room."

You didn't know what it was with you, but you just couldn't find it in yourself to sleep in someone else's room; it was personal space. After all, you wouldn't want anyone sleeping in your room either...

"I insist," Yami protested calmly.

"And I insist I take the couch," you answered back, a little peevish. Then you added after thinking, "I would feel better if I could sleep out here."

You thought Yami was getting irritated too, but he finally said with a sigh, "Fine." Then he trudged upstairs.

"You could have just said yes," Yugi commented.

"I know," you sighed. "But it would make me feel uncomfortable to sleep in someone else's room."

"Okay then. I'll go get you a blanket and a pillow."

**********

It had taken you forever to fall asleep; mainly because the couch was so hard to get comfortable in for you. It was probably because the couch cushions seemed to have lost their cushion. But finally, you had fallen out, your front side facing the back of the couch.

You had been in a deep sleep until something made you jump up into a sitting position in a drowsy panic. You bit your bottom lip, trying not to scream, and gasping deeply when you had to open your mouth. You grasped your thigh...your scared thigh. It was stabbing you to awaken, to pay attention that it was screaming at you. There was a dull, achy throb that seemed to come from the very core of your bone.

It hurt so much...! You must have been scrunched up into a ball if it was hurting this bad...  
You threw the covers off, and you got up to try and walk off the pain; that's what you had done every other time. But you kept limping, and it kept stabbing at the edge of your skin every time you put pressure on it. You kept biting your lip, gasping, and tightly shutting your eyes, feeling the familiar tingle of tears at the edge of your eyes...

The floorboards kept creaking as you walked back and front in front of the couch, but you didn't care. The pain kept numbing your cautiousness.

It was starting to ease up. At least you were getting your mind off of it a little by walking around.

"What's wrong?" you heard a drowsy voice query by the stairs; it sounded like Yugi.

You froze in place, spinning around and seeing a sleepy-looking Yugi rubbing his eyes, and an ever-perfect Yami standing next him with his arms crossed nonsensically.

You were at a loss for words; you knew they had saw you limping.

"How long has this been going on?" you turned to lock gazes with Yami when he questioned you in that serious tone of his.

"Um...uh, well...," you said dumbly.

"Go on upstairs, Yugi," you heard him sigh reluctantly. "I'll take care of it."

Yugi just complied with a semi-conscious nod and robotically started back upstairs.

"It usually isn't this bad...!" you tried to protest as Yami started towards the half kitchen. The light was flipped on and you recoiled from the brightness as Yami reached the freezer.

"You should probably stay off of it if it's hurting that much," Yami stated as he brought out a plastic bag, a rag, and an ice tray onto the counter.

"But it starts hurting when it's scrunched up," you argued softly.

"For once will you _stop_ arguing with me?!" he said rather irritably with a rivaling glare, almost being able to consider how he put down the ice tray on the counter as a "slam."

Being too tired to really bother, and being a little shaken by his cranky attitude, you just fell back to the couch in sitting position, giving a frustrated sigh wincing when your thigh protested the carefree treatment. You pouted at you intertwined fingers.

Shortly after, Yami came to sit beside you, sitting the wrapped rag-ice pack on the table with a glass of water, then extending a loose fist to you. You held out your hand after looking at his fist, letting the two pills drop into your hands. Yami then handed you the glass of water, looking at you sternly. You took the pills quietly, followed by some water. Then you went to put the half-full glass on the table...

"All of it," Yami said sternly.

You glowered at the glass as you picked it up and finished, then set it on the table. "Happy now?" you spat bitterly, crossing your arms and leaning your back into the cushions of the couch.

Yami then handed you the home-made ice pack as he asked, "So how long has your leg been doing this?"

"It's been getting better," you told him in a gutsy fashion, lightly putting the ice pack on your thigh. "It still hangs on, but it just doesn't act up as much anymore. I guess because I got all scrunched up when I was sleeping, and that's what irritates it."

There was a sagely silence that only Yami could manage when you were in his presence.

"I think it's because The Signet has somehow became apart of my body."

"The most logical guess," Yami commented. "Now, I want you to take my bed; that way you won't have to be scrunched up."

"But--"

"No arguments. Go," he said in his no-nonsense tone. Then he added after a moment, " _I_ would feel better if you did."

You sighed in defeat, raising up rather painfully as you did.

"Do you want me to help you?" Yami queried in a calm tone.

"No, I can make it," you mumbled, limping a little to the stairs. You didn't want to show that you were in a lot of pain, so you clenched your teeth and tried to walk more prominently.

You stopped a moment, looking for Yami. He was by the light switch next to where you entered the kitchen. "Um, Yami...?"

He turned to you, violet eyes penetrating the dim room to see just you. "Hm?"

"...Thanks."

He smiled warmly at you before shutting of the lights.

**********


	28. Rollerblades

**********

**Chapter 28:** _Roller-blades_

**********

You had woke up in a simple, put-together room. But you were too groggy to even realize that you were in Yami's room. As soon as you had got up, you had spotted your clothes from the other day, folded neatly on the end of the bed; they must have been washed.

You rose up from the bed, putting the covers back on right afterwards (you were still miffed that Yami had gotten you to not sleep on the couch), then picked up your clothes and headed to the bathroom.

After freshening up and changing back into your own clothes, you took your borrowed clothes and went downstairs. As soon as you had descended upon the living room floor, you noticed someone stretched out on the couch (most likely Yami), and Yugi sitting at the counter. Yugi looked up when he noticed you were coming into the room.

"Oh, hey!" Yugi greeted with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Relatively...,"you answered a little oddly. Yugi looked a bit confused by the answer. You just gave him a reassuring smile and then you motioned to the clothes in your hands. "Where did you want me to put these?"

"Oh, I'll take them to the wash for you," Yugi said and hopped off his chair, swiped them from your hands, and then went somewhere past the kitchen.

You blinked a few times to try and understand what happened. As as you did finally comprehend, Yugi was back in his seat...and you were still standing in the middle of the room.

"Did you want some breakfast?" Yugi asked you as he finished up his rice and took his dishes to the sink.

"Um, actually, I think it'd be best if I got back home," you told him sincerely. "I thank you for everything you've done but I think I should really get home now..."

"Don't be silly," Yugi waved you off. "You can stay as long as you want."

"Well, it's not that...," you tried to point something out for him; trying to say that something else was going on.

"I had planned to try and go to Kaiba's to teach Mokuba some tricks on his roller blades, and well, you know how Yami can be..."

"And I have plenty of reason for it," a voice stated profoundly.

You and Yugi jumped out of your skins (and three feet from where you were standing) when you both looked to see Yami sitting up on the couch, not a blink of sleep in his eyes.

"Y-yami!" Yugi stammered a bit, still taken aback by the suddenness of it all. "I thought you were still asleep!"

"So, you were planning on going to Kaiba's and not tell me?" Yami gave you a keen look.

"No!" you sent back heatedly, getting a little peeved at his over-protective streak... _again_. "I was going to call to see if it was okay to come over first! If it was... _then_ I was going to tell you!"

You sighed, making it seemed like you had actually planned to do it. Really, if he stayed asleep you would have just slipped out the door...

"Geeze you jump the gun..."

"I'm sure," Yami spat calmly while getting up and folding the blanket he was using. Then eyed you intently in a challenging way. "So go call him if that was what you were going to do."

"Fine. I will!" You then turned to a hesitant Yugi. "Yugi, may I use your phone?"

He nodded and pointed to where the cordless was at on the counter. You picked it up and dialed the number (you hated carrying around papers with phone numbers, so you had just sat down and memorized Kaiba's personal number from the card he gave you). You then put the phone to your ear and glared at Yami as it rang. It didn't take but two rings and someone had answered.

_"This is Kaiba."_ It said in a profound tone.

"Oh, hey, Kaiba," you greeted. "This is __(y/n)__. I was wondering if it was okay if I came over today for Mokuba?"

_"Hold on a second, I can't hear you."_

"Okay," you said. You had began to drum your fingers on the counter nervously, especially when you saw both Yugi and Yami looking at you expectantly.

_"Okay, what were you saying?"_

"I was wondering if I could come over for Mokuba today?"

_"Hm... Well, I guess so. I can work from my home office today."_

You felt your gut recoil in guilt. "Oh no! You don't have to take off work just for me! I'll come over another time!"

_"No."_ he said rather bluntly, taking you aback. _"Mokuba's been really excited about this and he'll probably want to show me everything."_

"Oh, okay then," you replied in an encouraging manner. You had turned around and found Yami about and inch from your face; he had been trying to hear the conversation! "Gah! Get out of my face!"

_"What?"_ he asked a little irritated by your reply.

"Nothing!" you answered quickly. "Just, my...cat..."

_"I didn't know you had a cat."_

"I don't," you answered again, glaring at Yami. He did nothing but smirk, which made your brows furrow even more. "It's just...a statue of a cat, that I have and I didn't remember that I moved it..."

_"..."_

You sweatdropped.

"Sorry, just... When is a good time for you?" you tried to recompose the failing lie you had produced.

_"Around one. I'll have my limo pick you up around then to bring you to my estate." >_

"Um, okay," you said, trying to escape Yami's gaze by now. "I'll see you then."

You then hung up the phone, searching for Yami with a glare.

He was no where to be found, suspiciously.

You set for the stairs in an angry tension. "Yami, I swear when I find you..."

**********

When you did find Yami, he gave you no room to tell him off about you and the phone, but what he did do made you even more irritable; he had insisted walking you home and seeing you off, cutting you off every time you were going to wish against it.

Currently, you were at your house (now freshly showered and had different clothes on), packing up your roller blade gear in your room, trying to put up with Yami.

"I'll be at Kaiba's mansion, Yami," you said in an irate tone.

"What time will you be home?"

You shoved your roller blades into the pack and glared at Yami. "I don't know!"

"Then how long do you plan to stay?" He answered with a keen glare to match yours.

"I don't plan to stay all night, if that's what you mean!" you bit in frustration while looking for your extra elbow and knee pads under the bed. You noticed Mokuba didn't have any on the last time you saw him.

"So when will you be coming home?"

You sighed in utter frustration, getting to your knees and facing Yami. "If you're worried about me walking the streets at night, I'm sure Kaiba will be gentlemanly enough to provide me with a ride home."

You heard Yami snort derisively.

You stressmarked, but continued looking for the extra pads under the bed. "And will you _cut_ the attitude? God, you've been so on edge lately..."

As if taken by your own words, you let them sink in. The last time he was like this was when all that stuff with Marik was going on...

"Something wrong?" Yami asked, clearly noting that you had stopped moving underneath the bed. You had also picked up on it and went to searching the contents again.

"No, nothing's wrong," you answered back, glad he couldn't see your eyes. Suddenly, you had found the extra pads in some box under your bed. "Finally!"

You slowly made your way back out, not wanting to get your hair caught in the box spring of the bed. You made your way to your knees, elbow pads in one hand, and the knee pads in the other. You knew your hair was a little ruffled, but you paid it no mind and went to stuff the pads into your small duffel bag.

You made your way to the living room and set your roller blade pack and duffel bag on the couch, going over to the small table by the door that held your phone and answering machine. There was a "1" on the left messages. You pressed the button to play it back.

_"Hey, sweetie, this is dad. I was just calling to let you know that I'll be staying out of town a little longer than I expected; something about an associates house being caught on fire and emotional support... I should be back in about two days. I'll try calling tomorrow."_

You felt a pang of sadness run through your system. _'He's never home anymore... I've been home alone all summer so far...'_

A hand on your shoulder brought you out of your brooding stupor; it was Yami, concerned lined his face.

"Are you going to be alright?"

You totally ignored the face he was giving you, and the feelings running through your chest at the moment. "Kaiba's limo should be here soon. I should probably get downstairs."

Dismissing his earlier gesture, you pulled him outside of your home once you grabbed your bags from the couch, slinging the 'blades pack over your shoulder and carrying the small bag in your hand. You then locked the door and turned to Yami before heading downstairs.

"Look, if you're really that worried," you began sincerely. "I'll call you the minute I get home, okay?"

He smiled warmly at you, his pensive glare melting away. "Okay."

As soon as you had reached outside, you saw that Kaiba's limo was waiting for you. You said goodbye to Yami and made your way to the limo. But before you were about to get in, you saw a glimmer of gold somewhere off in the distance. You stopped and tried to see what it was...but it never happened again. You shook your head and got into the limo, thinking that the sun was playing tricks on you again.

**********

You had gotten to the Kaiba mansion rather quickly, not being able to even enjoy the ride. As soon as you had stepped foot in the house, Mokuba bombarded you with excitement. He was practically gushing that you had even come over that you weren't sure that you weren't going to get to rollerblading!

Mokuba had led you to the "back yard" which almost made you fall over in surreal-ty. There was a big, open cement area, followed by an in-ground pool, and then there was just open field for almost as long as you could see beyond that.

"I know it's overwhelming for a first-timer," Mokuba commented to your side.

"Uh...yeah..."

"C'mon, over here."

Mokuba then led you to some little bench off to the side of the open cement; you saw he had already had his roller blades waiting there.

"Oh, hey," you suddenly remembered the extra pads. "I brought my extra elbow and knee pads for you. I noticed you didn't have any when I saw you on your skates last time."

"Thanks!" Mokuba's eyes seemed to glisten over when he saw you brought out your slightly faded navy blue pads. He took them eagerly and put them on.

You smiled a little as you started to unpack your roller blades from your pack. You studied the familiar pattern of them; the base was a navy blue, and there was a white and cerulean blue stream of water seeming to line the bottom. There was a big wave that rode the side, and since the wheels had the same design, when they moved it looked like there was whirlpools under it.

"Oh my gosh!" Mokuba gushed. "Those are SO cool!"

"Well, _yeah_ ," you mocked. "That's why I bought them! Now, hurry up so I can show ya some stuff!"

Mokuba replied by stumbling with his laces to hurry, and you giving him your helmet (he'd need it more than you).

Shortly after, you were both ready, and you were trying to decide what would be the easiest for him to try.

"Well, obviously you've picked up how to skate," you wondered aloud, remembering the one day when Kaiba was trying to catch up with him. "How about some basic tricks? Since we're   
on boring, old cement anyway..."

"Sure."

"Okay, I forget what this is called, actually, I forgot a lot of stuff, but anyway...," you mumbled a bit.

Just the same, you got up some speed, then evened it out, and went to shift your center of mass in an inversion; you had landed on your skates perfectly, and you were now going in the same direction, except backwards.

Mokuba was looking at you like you were insane.

You sweatdropped.

"A bit too much...?"

He nodded.

"Well how about some spinning then?" you tried.

Mokuba nodded excitedly.

Mokuba had caught on to the spin quite well... After he had spun with too much force more than a couple of times and ended on his butt. However, between you showing him nifty ways of coming to a stop to a few tricks that only involved his skates, somehow you had ended INSIDE the mansion, having races between the back door and the front door.

You enjoyed the rush of the speed the marble floor provided you with, suddenly feeling free again by being able to do what you did where you used to live. This was your big hobby before Duel Monsters, and it was almost magical to be doing it again.

You laughed as Mokuba couldn't avoid the plush rug in the hall for the third time and his roller-bladed feet stuttered to a stop...on his belly.

You circled around after going aways to stop some of the inertia you had built up. Approaching Mokuba, you helped him up for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Suddenly, the bowed staircase caught your eye, and your mouth curled into a grin.

"Hey, Mokuba," you called. "Wanna see something cool...?"

"Duh, why wouldn't I?"

Just as you were starting for the steps, the extravagant doorbell had rang.

"I GOT IT!" Mokuba yelled and skated over to the door. You followed him.

Mokuba opened the door to reveal Yugi and Joey.

"Hey, if my big brother finds out you're here he'll go nuts," Mokuba stated matter-of-factly.

"I know," Yugi said in slight annoyance. "But this is really important." Yugi then turned to you, a type of edge to his voice. "Did Yami follow you here?"

That didn't make any sense... "Um, no. Not that I know of," you told them in bewilderment.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yuge said he never came back after droppin' you off at yer place."

Your insides clutched onto a frozen blanket.

"We've been looking for him for a while now," Yugi began again, looking around like he might   
spot Yami somewhere. "But there isn't many places Yami would go; he doesn't know the city that well."

"Have you guys checked my place?" you offered in about the same worry Yugi had now.

"We were goin' t' check dere if you weren't hea," Joey stated. "But I dunno, maybe Yami's still hangin' at yer place."

You looked to Joey, and Yugi, AND even Mokuba, not sure at what to do now. You wanted to do something, but you weren't sure what, and that was giving you an impatient, panicky feeling.

"You can go," Mokuba encouraged you. "I understand that you need to find him; I'll even help you!"

You couldn't help but hug Mokuba, for support and for his big heart. "Thanks you so much, Mokuba. I promise I'll make it up to you!" you gushed, then letting go of him. "But maybe you should stay here; it's getting late and I know your brother doesn't want you out."

"No! I'm not just a little kid!" he argued. "I can help!"

"We know you're not," Yugi placated. "But we don't need you to get hurt too."

"Heh... Besides dat, Kaiba'd have are necks if dat happened..."

Mokuba pouted, knowing he wasn't going to win this. But then his eyes shined at you... "Can I at least ride back with you in the limo?! To look around for Yami on your way home?! PLEASE?!"

You sighed. "JUST on the way home," you said sternly. "But as soon as I'm dropped off, you promise you'll go straight home?"

"Yes!"

"Good; I don't want to have to worry about two people...," you mumbled to yourself.

**********


	29. It's Not Over

**********

**Chapter 29:** _It's Not Over_

**********

During the limo ride, both you and Mokuba were checking every window constantly; to an onlooker, you both would have been classified as "crazy."

But now you were home, and as you thought he would, Mokuba tried to come look around the condo complex with you. However, you expertly talked him out of it, and he was sent on his way back to the Kaiba mansion.

You walked very slowly up to the top floor of the complex, hoping to see Yami pop out and say that he'd been waiting for you to get back...just like the over-protective idiot that he was.  
There was no sign of him during the whole limo ride, let alone that starkly contrasting hair of his; it was unnerving you to say the least, and even you knew that was an understatement.

You had let Mokuba hold on to your skates for you, saying that it was a promise that you'd come back and make up the time you had to leave.

But, once you reached the top flight of stairs, your stomach dropped like lead all the way to your feet.

You knew he wouldn't be there, but you were just hoping...

You made your way up the short staircase that led to the four rooms for that floor. It was funny; only you and this other guy down the hall inhabited this floor. You never paid any mind to it, but suddenly the fact just popped into your head. Maybe just to falsely lead you out of your nervous rut.

It was always dark on the top floor; your father had always complained that someone needed to come up and fix the hallway lighting but they never came, so you had to squint a bit to readjust your eyes. Somehow during the limo ride home, the ride seemed longer and eventually it had gotten dark. Had you really stayed at Kaiba's that long and not noticed...?

You began to put your house key into the lock of the door when you heard the familiar shuffle of feet. You scurried to the small staircase and looked around, your stomach aflutter with hope again.

"Yami...?"

You were answered with silence, and your stomach dropped again.

"It's...been a while."

Your veins pumped ice so cold that you had instantly stopped moving.

You knew that voice...

You'd never forget it. The way it seemed to snake through the air, and blend in with the darkness of the hallway just now. A fear surmounted your stomach so overwhelmingly that you could have swore you'd be able to vomit...

Swallowing hard, you first turned around your head, and then your body...painfully slowly.  
And then, you saw his eyes; those same viciously predatorial and dark eyes...

Bakura.

You didn't have to make out his outline in the dark; his eyes were enough to know.

"Why...you look surprised," his voice continued to snake into your ears; it was almost mesmerizing. You just stood there, only aware of what Bakura was doing. "I heard you have the Millennium Rod..."

Suddenly, his Millennium Ring glowed a bit, and he chuckled lowly.

"Well, more like I _know_..."

You were so caught up in making sure Bakura wasn't after you at the moment that you failed to notice that a small whimper escaped your lips as you grasped the railing beside the stairs.

Bakura shifted a hand to his waist, and eyed you intently. "Scared...? You should be."

He finished with that evil grin of his...so sadistic...

_'Run!'_ your mind finally processed for you. _'Run away!'_

But then another part of your mind argued with it: _'But what if...he catches me? Will he kill me this time...?'_

Without your knowing, Bakura seemed to have gotten a lot closer to you. Your door was the first one past the small staircase, and he was by your door now...

There was no way you could even think of escape with him that close, but you inched slowly backwards... You just wanted to get away!

Then, he stopped looking at you and looked at the keys that were still stuck in your door!  
The icy feeling of dread streaked through your mind. _'The keys!'_

"__(y/n)__!" you heard a shout behind you.

You kept your fearful grip on the railing but your head spun around to see none other than Yami at the bottom of the small staircase; he looked a little out of breath.

"Yami!" you cried in disbelief.

Suddenly, you heard a *shink* sound...the familiar sound of metal being drawn from something.

"I told you to stay away, Pharaoh!" Bakura bit out hotly.

You spun your head in Bakura's direction again, and you saw that he eyed you quickly in his sadistic contortion of pleasure and lunged at you...a shiny dagger in hand; it seemed to peak out despite the darkness of the hall.

You went to dash madly away, but you just couldn't seem to keep friction on the slick tile beneath your feet, and you began to fall backwards...

You squeezed your eyes shut, knowing that Bakura would stab you somewhere...

But all you felt was a weight on your front side, and the air being stolen from you quickly. You gasped keenly, looking to see what had caused it...

Yami!

...And the dagger was sticking out of his right shoulder lazily.

You had forgotten everything else around you. "Yami? Yami?!"

His head was resting on the upper part of your chest; Yami's eyes were squeezed shut and he replied to your voice with a strangled gasp of pain, reverberating into your skin. It seemed he couldn't find it in him to get up...

Bakura descended the small staircase slowly, and you looked at him with the most fearful, pleading eyes you had ever managed. He bent down towards you and you whimpered a bit, this time the sound was begging him not to do anything else.

Bakura kicked Yami in the side of his torso, earning him another grunt into your neck/chest area. Then he fingered the dagger in his back, and like lightening he pulled it out, Yami gasping lowly. You watched Bakura intently now, hoping he wouldn't do anything because you couldn't.   
Yami's full weight was preventing you from moving.

You watched Bakura rise to a standing position, eyeing the dagger intricately. Then, to your horror, you watched him slowly lick one side of the blade, licking his lips greedily afterward.

"Not bad, Pharaoh," he said while still eyeing the blade. "I knew you were good at something."

He flashed you a sadistic smile before going back up the staircase. "I'm sure you won't mind if I let myself in," he stated more than asked.

"...__(your)__...__(name)__..."

Yami's weak voice tore you from watching Bakura enter your home.

"Don't talk!" you squeaked, trying to sit up, suddenly finding the strength to at least sit up and tend to Yami. " _Please_ don't talk!"

You saw that his shoulder was bleeding badly; his shirt was becoming soaked with a dark stain...in his favorite black outfit. _'Bleeding... He's bleeding... Oh my god...'_

You hesitantly put your hand to his shoulder, lightly pressing it at first but then doing it harder. He choked out a loud gasp.

"I'm sorry!" you squeezed your eyes shut momentarily to stop them from stinging, but the tears started to pour out. "I have to stop the bleeding! I'm sorry!"

Yami's blood...it was thick and hot; your hands looked so pale against the scarlet red that was on your hand.

Suddenly, a door opened and a man ran down to where you were. "Oh my god! What happened?" He bent down to you and tried to get an answer.

You realized it was the man down the hall, but your vision was blurred by tears and you couldn't make out anything besides his lanky figure and black hair.

Tears came on violently as you could only get out, "Bleeding! He's bleeding!"

"Hold on!" he said quickly, and as confidently as he could. "I'll be right back!" Then you saw him run back to his door, not bothering to close it.

You looked down at Yami in your lap again, your tears momentarily stopping as you saw that his face was glistening and he was breathing shallowly. "Yami! Stay awake...!"

Half of his back side was soaked by now, and you reacted with more tears and putting your other hand on top of the hand that was already covering the wound.

You saw a flash of Bakura dart down the stairs and down the complex, Millennium Rod in hand.

"I'll be back for _you_ ," he stated as he went by.

The man down the hall came back with some dish towels and he had his cordless phone already plastered to his ear. He knelt right beside you and handed you one of the dish towels, telling you to use it to stop the bleeding.

You complied, although still blurred in your hysteric condition. "Yami! Yami, stay awake!"

"Calm down," the man told you. "I'm going to help, okay? Your friend will be fine; the paramedics are on the way."

You just cried harder, feeling a hole edge away slowly at your insides.

**********

You were currently in the waiting room of the Domino Hospital, eerily calm. Only the images from the past hour were replaying in your mind; it was the only thing you were aware of.

When the ambulances arrived, they had taken Yami away from you, and you had felt cold. It was because blood had somehow gotten all over the front of your shirt, and you could only look at your hands. They were so bloody... The image of Yami's blood on your hands seemed to encapsulate you somehow...

The paramedics had to physically lift you off the ground and get you cleaned up. One of the female paramedics helped you change into a shirt she went and got in your house. They said you had suffered some shock from the incident, but they finally got you out of it.

Once you got to the hospital, you were looked over as well, but you raised some Hell and yelled at them for not paying more attention to Yami.

So, now, you were in the waiting room, waiting for some word about Yami, and waiting for Yugi and the others to arrive.

Suddenly, there was a warm jacket covering your back, and two hands bracing your shoulders.  
You turned to see Joey with a glum look on his face; this wasn't the regular Joey you were used to.

"Yami'll be fine; I'm sure of it," he told you. "Yami's a strong dude."

"I could only get a hold of Joey," Yugi said sitting in the chair next to you looking at the floor.   
"Tea and Tristan weren't answering their phones. I left a voice mail on Tea's cell, but Tristan doesn't have an answering machine, so..."

Yugi trailed off into silence.

"Gramps is talkin' wit one of th' docs," Joey told you as you looked back down at the floor. He then walked around the chair you were sitting at and took the one right beside you, scooting it closer to you so he could put an arm around you.

It became awkwardly quiet after that, like no one knew what to say.

You looked at your hands again, the blood suddenly coming back...tears welled up in your eyes again as that familiar lump blocked your normal breathing.

"...There was so much blood...," you croaked, failing at keeping the tears from running down   
your cheeks. "It was...on my hands...and, an-d..."

Joey's opposite hand grabbed your face and buried your head in his shoulder, gathering you in an awkward hug. "Shh... Yer okay, yer okay..."

You just let Joey squash you to him, letting everything out...again.

There had just been so much... At least, it had seemed like a lot because your hands were filmed in it, and your shirt...

You cried harder as Joey tried to shush you gently.

"Grandpa...?" you heard Yugi say suddenly.

"We can see Yami now," he said solemnly, motioning you all to follow him.

You got up and gently pushed Joey away from you. "I'm...okay, now. Th-thank you...Joey..."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," you said, relieving a sigh, trying to rid yourself of emotion, and attempting to walk bravely aside Joey and Yugi.

***********


	30. At the Hospital

**********

**Chapter 30:** _At the Hospital_

**********

The doctor had told you that you could go in two at a time, so as not to overwhelm Yami, as he was sleeping (keep noise to a minimum). You were too scared to go at first so you let Yugi and Grandpa go in before you. You knew Yami would be asleep when you went in, but it was like you were afraid to face him...

However, the wait of Yugi and Grandpa's time wasn't long enough for you, and when you saw Yugi's sad face, you stayed planted to your spot when Joey tried to pull you along. Joey looked back at you.

"What? You ain't got nothin' t' be afraid of," he said. "Ya wanna see if he's okay, right?"

You hesitantly shook your head in affirmation after a while, letting Joey drag you into the room.

There was a foreboding sense of dread as Joey opened the door and led you in; it was so bad that you wanted to vomit. You were so nerve-wrecked about going to see Yami...because in a way you felt that it was your fault that he was laying in that hospital bed.

The doctors said that Yami lost a considerable amount of blood, but said that you had done a good job of stopping most of what could have leaked out. They told you he would be fine and make a full recovery and would most likely be able to go home as soon as two days from now, and that definitely lifted some of the burden you were carrying.

But something kept tugging heavily in the back of your mind...your heart...

The room wasn't very big, and there was a very dim light spreading across the room; it made the walls look like a golden-crusted cream, and the curtains at the dark window have jade highlights. The light was just bright enough to make things out, but it was dim enough to fall asleep to.

You heard the constant beep of a heart monitor, and with it in the quiet room, you were worried that Yami might actually wake up.

Finally, you looked at the bed; it was sideways with Yami's left side facing you and Joey. He had one of those breathing masks on...

You let out a great sigh, taking in what Yami looked like on the bed. He also had one of those I.V. things as well...

You couldn't tell if he looked pale or not by how dim the light in the room was, but he looked so tired and weak laying there in that hospital bed. Yami had on a hospital gown from what you could tell, but he was comfortably under a white sheet. The sheet looked about flawless which meant he definitely hadn't moved that much...

_'...I'm alive again. So that also means I can die.'_

Yami's words had made you grow cold, now remembering what he had told you. Seeing him on that bed, so devoid of confidence... It almost made you wretch. Yami just wasn't the same if he didn't sound, gesticulate, and beam confidence. Those words that Yami had told you to get you to believe that he would stay scared you so much into believing that he _COULD_ have left you this night; in just one night, in just one hour...

So overwhelmed by the thought, you crumpled to the ground beside Yami's bed and Joey's feet, crying softly because you didn't want to disturb Yami. Your outstretched arms were the only thing keeping you from crumpling to the ground on your face, and you watched as the tears in your eyes assaulted the ground, almost like they were jumping from your eyes.

You were so caught up in release that you didn't even notice Joey collect you off of the ground and lead you out of the room. Soon you were back out in the hallway, fluorescent lights almost paining your eyes from the tears distorting the light entering your them, and from being in a dim room.

You belatedly registered that Joey was hugging you again. "'Eeeeeey, yer okay," he tried in a playful tone, rubbing your arms over the jacket of his you were wearing after he hugged you some.

"Yami don't want t' see ya like dis, ya know dat, right? Especially if he's gonna be fine."

You looked directly into Joey's eyes, a complete contrast to your swelled, tear-filled ones. Joey sighed in reluctance though, confusing you until he explained. "But 'ey, if it makes ya feel better, jus' let it all out. I mean, I remember when Serenity went int' surgery fer her eyes an' I was more jittery dan a woodpecker on caffeine!"

You laughed lightly at Joey's seemingly primitive metaphor. He smiled when he saw this.

"Ya, dat's what we wanna see!"

"Joey, you should probably be getting home soon," Grandpa suggested from the wall.

"Yea...," Joey replied while stretching a bit. "I was gonna stay wit Serenity an' ma tonight."

"Hey thanks for coming, Joey," Yugi said, still staring at the floor, resting his back against the wall.

"An' you gotta cheer up too, little buddy!" Joey tweaked Yugi's chin with his fist. "You know as   
well as I do dat Yami'll be fine! Even th' docs said so!"

"Yeah, okay," Yugi said a bit brighter, finally looking up with semi-dried tears.

"'Sides, Yami'd strangle me if I didn't help wit keepin' th' spirits up...," Joey mumbled while walking past the group. "I'll see ya guys tomorrow."

You realized that you were still wearing Joey's jacket. "Wait! Joey, your jacket...?"

He spun on his heel to face you down the hall. "You can keep it fer now; I'm sure you'll need it more dan me."

You just nodded slowly, as if not comprehending what he was saying, and watched him walk down the hall.

"Well...," Grandpa started while pushing off of the wall he was resting on. "I should be heading home since a game store doesn't run itself." He then turned to you and Yugi. "I assume both of you will be staying, then?"

You both nodded your heads vigorously.

"Well, try to get some rest, if you can," Grandpa parented. "I'll be by later in the day during my lunch break or something."

"Okay, bye grandpa," Yugi said.

"See ya," you robotically called after him. You both watched as Grandpa took off down the hall as well.

**********

You and Yugi had camped out in the waiting room, a nurse coming by with a blanket for Yugi (you had refused and said you'd be fine with Joey's coat; it was WAY bigger than you...). You had fallen out way before Yugi had, at least, you thought so anyway. You were emotionally and physically drained from the whole ordeal, so it was no wonder that you had.

Of course, you had woken up several times from seeing the incident with Yami replay in your mind during your dreams. It was a cyclic motion though; you'd jerk awake so violently that you would almost fall out of your chair, then you'd have to calm your nerves and heavy breathing, and then you'd settle into the chair again and try to sleep.

But when you had done it for about the bazillionth time, you hadn't expected to see Yugi's Grandpa, Joey, Tristan, Yugi, and Tea to all be in the waiting room with you...looking very concerned at your "normal" waking state that you had grown accustomed to in the night.

"You okay?" Tea asked right next to you, making you jump when you felt her concerned arm on yours.

"Oh! Yeah...," you answered, feeling light-headed and not all there.

"Glad you're awake," Grandpa called from a chair. "I brought some sandwiches and tea. Yugi said you probably hadn't eaten at all yesterday."

"Probably why I feel light-headed...," you mumbled lowly. Then you asked in bewilderment, "What time is it?"

It was pretty lit in the hospital right now...

"About four in the afternoon," Tea called, temporarily pulling out her cell phone from her purse.

Your eyes bulged. "Are you serious?!"

"Well you had a rough night," Tristan reasoned from his comfortable state, sitting in a chair the opposite way you should. His legs were straddled and his head was propped up by his fists.

"Yeah," Joey piped in, possibly feeling left out from the conversation. "Looks like my jacket came in handy."

"Yes. Thank you, Joey," you looked at him.

Suddenly, a thought hit you in the quiet atmosphere.

"Um, did Yami wake up, yet?" You were afraid to ask, visibly wincing when you did.

Tea, Tristan, Joey, and Yugi all looked ready to answer you, but Grandpa cut them off.

"Yes, but I want you to eat something first," he said sternly, an odd glint in his eye. "You look exhausted and I think it'd be better if you tried to get some energy back in you."

_'Do I really look that bad?'_ you wondered to yourself. However, even if you didn't think you could have possibly looked as bad as Grandpa was getting at, you obliged his "offer" and ate, followed by some bitter green tea that he had brought as well. You would have said that you preferred it with honey, but you didn't want to seem rude at the moment.

After eating, you went to take Joey's jacket off, but noticed that you felt awfully cold when you went to do it. Instead, you hugged it closer to your body, getting up from your chair and attempting to walk towards the room Yami was at. You wobbled a bit as you did, Grandpa catching you as you almost fell over, and your ears filling with the concerned voices of the others.

_'Okay, maybe I DO look as bad as Grandpa was getting at...'_

Grandpa hushed the others as he helped you steady yourself as he led you down the hallway to Yami's room.

"Yami woke up this morning, just before I came down to see you kids," he informed. "I didn't want to wake you up; you honestly look sick." Grandpa eyed you curtly when he said the latter.

Suddenly, you had reached Yami's door, and even though Grandpa looked like he wanted to say more about the subject of YOU, he didn't.

"I want you to sit in a chair when you get in there, okay?" he parented yet again. You just nodded, getting nerve-wrecked by the thought of seeing Yami again.

With that, Grandpa guided you to the door and shut the door after you had gotten in. Your breathing caught in your chest as you saw Yami's bright, violet, penetrating eyes hit you. He was still lying on the bed, but his head was turned to you, the sunlight from the window giving his skin a tan-ish color for some reason...

And why was he looking at you so worriedly? He was the one that was hurt! His stare was making you uncomfortable.

Well, at least he didn't have to have that mask on his face to breathe any longer.

Yami suddenly smiled, his eyes warming up now.

"I've wanted to see you."

You immediately looked to the floor, studying your shoes. You felt oddly nervous in his presence now...and the stiff air in the room that you were creating by not answering him was making it that much worse.

But in some small recession of your mind that you couldn't grab hold of, you were happy that his voice sounded so confident despite his condition. His face did as well, from what you saw.

"Pull up a chair," he said, beckoning you over. "You look exhausted."

You jerked to move; suddenly feeling like it was okay to do this movement. You quickly pulled up a chair to the side of Yami's bed, sat down and stared at your twiddling fingers.

The stiff silence assaulted the room once again, and you broke out in a nervous sweat, feeling   
Yami's eyes bore into you like he was expecting you to say something.

How could you? You still felt like you had put him there in that bed, only wailing when the incident happened. You were nothing but a blubbering idiot to him in his time of need! And   
Yami had saved you during yours!

"The others say you aren't...'well'," his strong voice filling the room, making you feel like you should cower before him.

"...And that worries me."

Your head jerked up in surprise, your eyes now captured by Yami's domineering ones.  
Even though you had blubbered your little heart out when he needed you the most, he was still concerned over you!

You knew that it wasn't your fault...but somehow, you still felt that it was, just a little bit. And that little bit was keeping you from talking to him, from telling him how worried you were, how much you were glad to know that he was going to be alright.

But you were so afraid you might jinx his condition by saying how happy you were to see him well again, and then you'd lose him just like you lost your mom so long ago... And your dad.

Yami's eyes had gone so soft when you jerked up to meet his. He was practically begging you to talk to him. He wanted to know what was going through your mind, why you looked so disheveled coming in to see him.

Tears streamed down your face softly, as you felt your eyes and nose tingle for the umpteenth time in about two days. You wrung your hands together in frustration, trying to keep calm as you finally spoke in an edgy tone.

"Yami... I was so worried," your voice shook as you tried to keep from falling apart again. "I was so worried that you were going to die...when I was holding you. I was so afraid you would!"

You had to stop a minute to let the emotion subside, taking in deep gasps to calm yourself.

"And you were bleeding...it was on my hands...," a surge of hot tears ran down your cheeks as you said it, and you choked out the next lines; they were barely audible. " _Your_ blood, Yami.

"And I couldn't do anything! You were laying there so lifeless...."

You shook your head in disgust, looking away and wiping your nose with your hand in a frustrated manner. You couldn't say anymore, so you cupped your mouth with your hand and tried to keep from crying anymore.

The room was quiet, and you were staring down at the floor again. You knew Yami was looking at you, but you were so caught up in holding back your tears that you didn't mind him doing it.

The room was just so quiet as your tears gradually died down; you knew Yami wanted to say something, but it seemed like he was honestly, for the first time that you had known him, he really didn't know what to say.

"__(y/n)__," his voice beckoned you to look at him, and you did. Tears were still hesitantly spilling from your eyes. "I want you to go home tonight. And I want you to rest--"

"But--"

"No 'buts'," Yami told you sternly, his brows furrowing a little. His expression lightened when he   
saw you relax poutfully in your chair.

"They're going to keep me here one more night, just to make sure I'll be okay. So tomorrow, I'll be home, and I don't want you to look so tired the next time I see you."

You nodded glumly like you had been scolded. But then a thought hit you, and you were so taken by the curiosity of it that you had momentarily lost your depression and immediately spoke it out loud.

"Yami..."

"Hm?"

"Where were you yesterday? Yugi and Joey came to Kaiba's and said you didn't come home when you saw me off."

"Oh," Yami said, a little surprised by the question. He turned his head and looked at the ceiling.   
"That's how all of this started."

Yami then closed his eyes, as if seeing what was happening all over again.

"You see, I spotted a glimmer of gold as you got into Kaiba's limo."

Your eyes went wide; you had seen it too! But you didn't say anything so as not to interrupt, wanting to know what had happened.

"It turned out to be Bakura; he had been tailing you ever since Marik gave you the Millennium Rod."

"Marik wasn't working with him, was he?" you couldn't help but ask that question.

"Bakura said he was stealing it for his own plans; one of which was to get payback for Marik. My guess is that Marik promised him the Rod when he planned to defeat me in the duel. Obviously, it didn't happen that way."

Yami had stopped, but you weren't quite satisfied yet.

"But, when you came and...saved me...," you had to pause, the memory running through your mind.

"Bakura had given me the run-around," Yami almost seethed, clutching his hand into a fist at the memory of it. "He told me he was after you as well, but wouldn't tell me why."

He then looked at you sternly, remembering something.

"Which reminds me, I'd like it if you'd stay with us until this mess gets straightened out, or at least until your father gets home. I don't want you alone."

You nodded; completely satisfied with that reasoning.

Not that you would have disagreed.

**********


	31. Let it All Out

**********

**Chapter 31:** _Let it All Out_

**********

You had stayed until Yami fell back to sleep; it was weird because you had never seen him look so tired before.

You didn't really talk while you were there with him. Instead, you both ended up watching the golden horizon fade away from the window in Yami's hospital room, just wanting to feel secure in each other's presence.

When Yami did fall back asleep you decided to get up and head out, wanting to let him rest peacefully.

However, as soon as you did get out into the waiting room, Grandpa "saw it in your best interest" to stay with him until your father got home (you had the inkling a few peanuts in the gallery went a little rotten on you). Feeling too tired to say much of anything to your squealing (but worried) friends, you obliged Grandpa's offer and headed home with him.

Of course, that didn't stop you from being more than a little miffed at everyone else staying the night in the hospital and not you. But you knew Grandpa wouldn't have it this time, and besides; you didn't want to hear Yami's mouth if you did...

**********

Once you reached the game shop home, Grandpa made you a nice bowl of miso soup. As you sat at the bar-counter eating it slowly, Grandpa braced himself on the counter right in front of you and asked you in all seriousness, "How are you holding up?"

You stopped eating a moment, taken aback by the forward question. Your face scrunched up in bewilderment; wasn't Yami the one in the hospital? Why was he asking you such a question?

"Mr. Moto, I don't believe I understand you..."

He sighed, as if knowing you'd ask that. He composed himself quickly, regaining the posture he had before your answer. "I'm asking _you_ how you're coping with this. I know it's bothering you more than you're letting on."

Suddenly feeling vulnerable, you stared down at your bowl of miso.

"All of your friends see it as well," Grandpa urged heatedly, trying to get you to look up. "They're very worried about you."

The edges of your eyes began to sting, wanting to stop him from talking; it was bringing back bad memories.

Although your eyes had began to water lightly, you looked up at him in a slight smile. "I'll be fine," you paused a bit. "I'm just a little tired right now, and with...everything that's happened, I'm just a little on edge right now."

You looked down at your twiddling thumbs, no longer able to keep the encouraging smile on your face.

"But I'll be okay; as long as I know Yami's going to be alright, I'll be okay."

There was an awkward silence after you had finished your small declaration, not daring to look up at Grandpa.

You heard Grandpa sigh in reluctance, getting off of the counter and saying in a defeated tone as he went toward the laundry room, "After you finish eating, go get some sleep. You can use whoever's bed you want since they'll both be free. Just get a good night's rest."

You nodded your head even if you knew Grandpa wouldn't see it.

**********

After finishing your soup quickly, you had headed upstairs to Yami's room.

It was more for security-ish reasons why you had headed to Yami's room; you knew you wouldn't sleep a wink if you had slept anywhere else. And since Yami wouldn't be here with you...

You shook your head of the ill-thoughts, knowing you were only depressing yourself.

You had slept in his room once before, so you knew he'd be okay with it. It's not like that worried you or anything, just, he wasn't going to be there...

You shook your head again. Goodness, what was with you? You weren't usually this negative.

Reaching Yami's room, you opened his door and stood in the doorway, taking a moment to take in his room.

There was a bed in the far, right corner, and to your left was almost the exact same dresser that Yugi had. Yami didn't have a desk, but he had a small table on the left side of his bed that held a lamp, and his deck belt.

You moved and sat down on the edge of his bed, looking out of the window from where you were seated. The window was on the same side as the front of the bed, so you were looking through it at an awkward angle.

Heaving a sigh, you got up, pulled away the covers, and settled into the bed. You pulled the covers all the way up to your chin, and then slipped into a fetal position, cushioning the blankets under your chin like a little child would.

You almost immediately drifted off, noting how warm you were feeling when you did.

**********

There you were again.

Alone in the darkness.

You couldn't see anything, but you were sure the darkness was filled with people...with eyes that could see your pathetic, crumpled form...

Fear clung to your gut so menacingly you were afraid your stomach would rip in two. And an apprehension so keen and strong you were having trouble breathing.

You felt so cold... The floor you were on was so _cold_.

You knew it wasn't ice, but it was like a granite or something...something that stayed cold, conducting it well.

Finally, you were aware that goosebumps had traveled up the length of your body from the coldness of the floor, staying on your skin...never going away.

Your mind was somewhat foggy from the fear and apprehension running your body; your thoughts and movements.

You heard a *shink;* that familiar sound from only days ago...

...And you knew it would happen again.

Dread.

It filled your stomach along with the other dominant feelings there; making you physically gag as you finally fell to your knees, holding yourself up with locked arms.

Then something fell from above you...

...it was hot, and oozy-feeling; like hot syrup.

It was mingling in your hair, your clothes...and when it touched your skin, it made your hair raise against the contrast of your cold skin, making the goosebumps on your skin stand out more.

It was blood...

... _Yami's_ blood. You knew it was.

Your body started shaking, almost convulsing as the temperature of your body flared, getting too hot for you to handle. You wanted the blood off! It was sticking to your skin like a disease, like it was seeping into your skin and making you sick!

Then Yami appeared in your arms, laying on you the same way he was when it happened...

Your stomach lurched at the site of him; so lifeless...not being able to move...his _blood_ seeping into your being...

Why was it so hot?

Your head clouded even more as a dreary fog set into your head from your body heat.

Suddenly, Yami's body was gone, leaving you cold again. The blood was still on you, dripping off from your hair, face, your hands and arms...

But this was no average, cold shiver; it was the kind of cold carried after being drenched in water and being put out into the winter air, not fully dry.

And then a warm buzz filled your body, and as soon as it hit your head you felt the need to lay down, to close your eyes...

**********

You awoke with a start, feeling your head spin groggily. Your body was hot... You felt extremely hot and bothered, wanting to take off the nasty covers on your body; they were making you uncomfortable.

Gradually, you became aware that someone was putting pressure on your shoulder, wanting you to lay back down. You complied hesitantly at first, but then just fell back down gratefully.

You closed your eyes, your pounding head making itself known, as well as your achy limbs... Your whole body ached, even the roots of your hair.

When you breathed you felt sickness; that yucky feeling in your lungs when you were sick.

And then it all made sense...

You opened your eyes half-lidded despite your willingness, clearly confused at being in a strange room. The backs of your eyes protested painfully when you didn't close them.

Wait.

This was Yami's room...and sitting next to you was...

"Yugi...?"

You cringed when you heard how raspy you croaked out his name. You felt so sluggish...what happened to you...?

"You've been out with fever a couple a days now," Yugi explained while reaching for something beyond your head. You heard the faint trickle of water as you closed your eyes a moment.

You felt something icy cold against your forehead, and it wouldn't leave; the fever seemed to seep up the cold in it. You opened up your eyes, half-lidded at best again.

_'He must be sitting on a stool or something...'_

Funny how we think of the strangest things when we're sick.

_'Wait. "Couple of days"...?'_ thoughts struck you instantly. _'That means...!!'_

"Yami!!" You immediately sat up in realization.

Yugi's hands forcefully pushed you back down to the bed again.

"Yami's fine," he assured you as he gradually got you back down. "He said he'd come up to see you in a while, but you need your rest."

You had gone eerily silent once Yugi had you lay back down on the bed. Your insides twisted strangely when Yugi pulled the covers back up to your chin.

You closed your eyes, letting the sickness you had claim your vision at least.

But you also did it because your eyes were starting to sting and water, and a lump claimed your throat, elevating your breathing even more despite your sickness.

"I'm...so sorry...Yugi," you whispered, not sure if it was because of your emotions or your illness.

It took Yugi a while to answer. "Sorry?" he queried in bewilderment.

You tried swallowing the lump in your throat, failing tremendously. Cold streaks ran down your cheeks softly, almost like they were being evaporated by your fever.

"When...Bakura attacked Yami...," you supplied in a steadily slow voice. "I didn't do anything, Yugi...

"I'm sorry, Yugi. I really am... I should have...done something...

"...But I didn't."

A surge of hot tears ran down your face; it was only upsetting your fever, especially the achy feeling in your head because you were trying to hold it in.

"But that's not your fault, what happened," Yugi tried with encouragement. You could hear hints of upset in his voice. "You did what you could, and did everything you could do in your situation! You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened..."

You heaved a sigh, feeling restless from your fever and your emotions. Your eyes still remained closed...

"But, Yugi...," you began again. "I saw your face in the hospital... You were so sad... I felt like I had let you down; Yami's your friend too."

Yugi sighed, relieving himself of some heavy emotions.

"Don't blame yourself for this, okay?" Yugi tried again. "It wasn't your fault. Besides, if you weren't there, who would have saved him? Stopped the bleeding?"

Your eyes were half-lidded, looking at Yugi, your head tilted slightly.

"I know you did what you could," Yugi said sincerely. "And if you're thinking I'm mad with you, I'm not. I know you did what you could, __(y/n)__. All that matters is that Yami's okay now, and you should stop beating yourself up over this."

You smiled a little after hearing Yugi's words; the dark feeling in your stomach was pushed away.

You saw Yugi smile brightly at you before refreshing your cloth in the water and placing it back on your forehead.

"Now get some some rest, okay?" Yugi parented as he went out of the open doorway.

**********

You were faintly aware of a feeling on your face; it running along your jawline, the sides of your cheeks... It was pulling you out of your fever-induced sleep.

You opened your eyes as you tried to push the edges of sleep from your mind to see what was bothering you.

Your eyes were still sluggish and achy from the fever, as well as every part of your body, and it was draining every bit of energy from you.

With your vision clearing slowly, you saw Yami sitting at the small stool that Yugi was sitting at earlier. You looked at him strangely, noting that his right arm was in a light blue sling; it looked to be kept tightly secured to his body. Probably to keep it from moving any.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

Your fever seemed to distort the sound of his voice some, making you react belatedly to his question. You had next-to-no energy compared to when you talked with Yugi.

"I'm hot...bothered...and I feel yucky," you offered in a croak, squeezing your eyes shut momentarily.

You heard him chuckle lightly.

"You're so mean," you murmured playfully with half-lidded eyes. "How can you laugh at me like this...?"

Your voice was so devoid of energy it was hard to take you seriously, really.

Yami's grin stayed in place while he answered you. "Well, I'm here to help with that."

He held up a mug for you to see, then set it down and helped you sit up. Your head spun lightly, and your head pounded stiffly when you sat up. Then he handed you the mug; you looked in it to see some miso soup. You cringed.

"I know it's not inviting when you're sick, but it's better to have something on your stomach when you take medicine," Yami instructed.

You nodded begrudgingly, taking the two pills he extended to you. You took one at a time, taking small gulps of the soup to accompany the pills. After that, you slowly tried to take in some more of the salty soup.

When you had finished about half of the cup, Yami stopped you, taking away the mug from your weak hands.

"That's enough," he said. "We don't need you throwing up later."

You complied restlessly, releasing a sigh, and slinking back to a laying position on the bed.

Yami then took the mug in hand and began to walk out of the door, but said, "When you're feeling better, we'll talk about what you said with Yugi."

Your mind reeled, you sitting straight up in the bed, ignoring the dizzy surge. "You were _listening_?!" you bit out heatedly.

Yami hurried back to you, setting down the mug on the table and tried to push you back down.

"Calm down," he said, waving off your anger. "I was walking by the door and overheard the conversation. Besides, it was probably better that I did; it'll make things a lot less tense that I already know."

You grunted, finally laying back down.

"You're such an arrogant jerk," you mumbled. "When I'm better, I'll get you back for that."

He smiled, making you feel like a child.

"I know you don't mean that," he chided, giving you a quick kiss on your forehead.

You stiffened as you felt your face heat up. You knew your blush would be hidden by the flush of your fever, but you knew the timid look on your face was enough to let him know that he had basically chastised you.

He gave you a sincere smile of pity at your situation, then reached for the mug and walked out.

**********


	32. The Scandal

**********

**Chapter 32:** _The Scandal_

**********

It took you a full week to recover from the fever you had gotten. Grandpa had claimed that it hung around so long because of all the things you had been through.

Of course, you didn't want to think about those things.

Anyway, it took a week because your fever had stayed with you about four days. The fifth day it kind of lingered, but once it did go away, you were so weak half the time that you had to stay in bed just to recover from getting sick! It was annoying to say the least.

You had made a full recovery, though, and all the evidence left of your striking fever was an itchy throat and cough...and it was absolutely _killing_ you!

Well, not the itchy throat part, but the fact that Yami kept fussing over you; telling you to take a break, don't over do it, and to go to bed early!! What's with that?! You knew how to take care of yourself!

Yami _did_ have his intended talk with you, and it was rather pleasant despite all the unpleasantries that came with it. Yami had been totally understanding to your situation and his over-protectiveness didn't streak across any part of the conversation; he simply told you to not blame yourself for such an out-of-control event.

In any case, you felt kind of bad because Yugi's chores had doubled with Yami being out. Yami's medications were really taking it out of him, and he was usually sleeping half the time. And with you sick, Yugi had double time _all_ the time.

But now that you were well enough, you would help out!

So now you were doing the house chores while Yugi was helping Grandpa with the game shop stuff...

You had finished cleaning off the counter from breakfast and were now wiping it clean when you noticed Yami coming down the stairs, rubbing his eyes sleepily with his non-sling-secured hand.

Glancing at the clock and then back to Yami as he sat on the couch, you said, "Well, good afternoon, sunshine."

He mumbled a few incoherent responses, one of which you caught as "don't start with me."

See, since you had been better you had been getting Yami back for all the times he had been overprotective with you. You had been squawking every chance you got!

"I'll heat up some breakfast for you so you can take your medicine," you stated, dropping your sarcasm whilst doing the task. You liked to pick at him, but it made you feel guilty sometimes.

Grandpa had insisted upon getting Yami fed with high protein, especially in the morning since protein promoted healing. So, Yami was eating fish, eggs, and rice for his usual breakfast banquet.

As you sat the heated food in front of Yami on the table, he cringed slightly. "Again?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't heat it up for nothing," you commented to him, then putting your hands on your hips. "You're lucky I talked him out of the protein shakes."

Yami just sighed in disheveled reluctance, taking a seat at the bar counter, and began to eat the rice first, trying to hold off the eggs and fish he had to eat for about six straight days now.

As you were going back to wiping the counter, there was a "BURST"ing sound that filled the room followed by the door recoiling at the overwork from it's hinges and Joey's loud mouth.

"Make way, make way!" Joey hollered, hands raised like he was praising his own entrance. "Joey Wheeler's hea, an' ya now have nothing t' fear....! Especially when I make my Flameswordsman appear!"

You gripped the counter to keep from making contact with the floor. Yami just quizzically blinked his eyes at Joey.

"Eh, heh...," he mumbled while scratching the back of his head, noticing your blank stares.

Joey then composed himself and went to sit in a chair next to Yami. "Anyway, I jus' came over t' see how everyone was doin'. I heard Yug's got double time wit Gramps."

"Well, not anymore," you said quickly, leaning on the counter. "Since I got over my cold I've been doing the housework."

"Just don't over do it," Yami mentioned lowly while picking at his food bored-ly.

"I _told you_ I'm fine," you bit back, keeping the ferocity in check. "And would you stop picking at your food?! I worked hard to heat that up!!"

You saw Joey elbow Yami in the side and say, "'Ey, man. If I learned anythin' about girls, don't even imply dat yer not likin' th' food dey brought ya. Even if dey didn't make it."

Your brows were now furrowed at Joey, and he raised his hands defensively. "Well I guess I don't need to ask if you want anything to eat, Joey."

Joey sighed in silent relief when you turned away to the sink. "Neah, I brought my own breakfast."

"Breakfast...?" Yami queried allowed.

"Joey, it's after one in the afternoon...," you commented as you turned to face him.

"I know," Joey said dismissively, pulling out something dark and covered in plastic wrap from a spacious pocket on the side of his pants. "Dis is actually kinda early fer me; I usually don't get up 'til one when I sleep in. So, fer me t' be here right AT one means I got up before noon."

Joey finally unwrapped the plastic wrap and you finally discovered what Joey's favorite breakfast food was...

"Brownies...?" you questioned in disbelief.

"Breakfast of Champions!" he announced proudly before almost downing a good-sized chunk.

You sweatdropped. And you were pretty sure Yami was as well, but you were so caught up in watching Joey eat...

"Oh! Almost fergot...," Joey mumbled with brownie still in his mouth, reaching to the pocket on the other side of his pants. He brought out...!

...A can of cola.

Joey gave a dumb smile, and giggled a little gleefully. "It's not a balanced breakfast wit out my can of 'Kickin' Kola'!"

You couldn't stop yourself from falling over that time.

The phone decided to ring at that time, finally bringing you out of your mesmorized stupor to go pick it up from the receiver at the far end of the counter.

"Moto Residence," you proclaimed to whoever was on the other end.

_"__(y/n)__...?"_ the voice sounded a little confused, but continued before you could say anything. _"This is Kaiba. Is Mokuba over there?"_

"No, he's not," you said hesitantly. "Why? Did something happen?"

_"No. He's just been gone for a while,"_ he answered. But, it was strange in a way... _"He said he might stop over there."_

"Well, you don't think he's been kidnapped do you...?" you commented suspiciously.

If Kaiba really thought that, wouldn't he be a bit more worried? Yugi and the other's had told you how much he cared for Mokuba, but for some reason, he seemed really distant and offset given the situation.

_"..."_

"Kaiba...," you started in warning tone to get him to speak. You were worried, but then again it also had you wondering...

_"Could you just help me look for him?"_ he bit out irately.

A surge of anger went through you for him taking out his frustrations on you. But you held it down.

"Do you know who did it?"

_"If I knew that I wouldn't be calling to ask for your stupid help,"_ he mocked dismissively before hanging up.

You took the phone away from your ear in disbelief and glared at it heatedly before slamming it back down on the receiver.

*********

After explaining to Yugi, Yami, Joey, and Grandpa what Kaiba had told you, you all had called Tea and Tristan and began a little search party. No one had asked you why you were so peeved and you were a little thankful for it, wanting to stay inside your head and fume about Kaiba really being the mean guy that everyone had told you about. And the reason why you were still angry about it was the fact that he was so nice to you at first.

Yami had at first insisted you stay home, seeing as how you were still recovering from your sickness. But you refuted with saying that he was going and he was still recovering from injury and medication effects. He just couldn't seem to argue with that point, so you ended up going.

You had decided split up, one group having to have three people. Yami had wanted the third person for said reasons, so that left Tea to decide between Tristan and Joey (Yugi went with Grandpa).

"Hurry up, Tea," Tristan grounded out for about the third time. "This isn't like you're shopping; we're wasting precious time that we could be using to look for Mokuba!"

Tea set him a look, complete with her hands on her hips. "Well if you're going to be that ungrateful about it, I'll go with Joey."

Turning to Joey, you all saw him pop the last brownie chunk he had into his mouth as he reached down into another pocket for something else...

...it turned out to be a jar of pickles.

You cringed and sweatdropped, as did everyone else that was still standing in the vicinity.

"And here I thought all that excess weight was from all the food you ate...," Tristan commented in amazement.

"You callin' me fat, Tristan?!" Joey shoved his face in Tristan's.

"That's so gross," you heaved a little in a soft voice. "Brownies and then pickles..."

"I'm just sayin' I'd hate to see your bowel movements when you get all old an' wrinkly!"

"You wanna take dis outside?!"

"We ARE outside, nimrod!"

"Den let's do dis..."

Both Joey and Tristan swung their fists, but they missed each other...

Or rather, Joey missed Tristan because Tea was dragging him away.

"C'mon, Joey!" Tristan called mockingly. "Say 'moo' for me, ya big cow!"

You grabbed the end of Joey's shirt to try and keep him from going anywhere. "Oh yeah?! Well if I'm a cow den yer a jackass!"

"Joey! Stop!" you managed, trying to concentrate on Joey not being able to move you despite your attempts. "We've got something to do..."

Joey suddenly stopped, crossing his arms spitefully. "Yea, well, dat jerk's jus' lucky I got sumthin' better t' do..."

*********

You, Yami, and Joey had looked all day around downtown Domino, and you had found nothing, not even a trace of Mokuba being anywhere. You had even asked around to see if there was any news circulating about kidnappings, but there was nothing. It was like it had never happened.

And the fact that no one knew about Mokuba's disappearance made you wonder if Kaiba was just hoaxing you. After all, given Mokuba's status in Kaiba Corp, and being as Kaiba was protective of him, everyone would have known about it.

And that brought you back to wondering why Kaiba seemed so angry with you on the phone. It was like he was mad at you, but you had no reason for him to be so angry with you; you hadn't seen him in a week. Besides that, it was a wonder that he was even mad at you because he was so nice to you before.

It just didn't make any sense at all. None of it did.

You sighed in reluctance, wanting to know why everything wasn't connecting.

You glanced over to Yami, knowing you had sighed out loud. You saw him set one of those "tell me what's wrong" faces, and you waved him off quickly, mouthing "later" to him.

Suddenly, you finally realized that you were close to where your home was. It was getting dark, so you guys had stopped the search anyway and were heading back to the game shop...

Grandpa had somehow gotten a hold of your father, miraculously on his cell phone, and told him what happened. He told Grandpa to tell you that as soon as he'd came back he'd come to see you.

"Um, hey guys?" you queried to both Joey and Yami. "Do you think I could stop by my house and check my messages? I mean, dad still hasn't called over to Yugi's yet."

Joey's stomach growled in response. "Man, I'm hungry..."

Joey searched around the downtown area, catching the sight of the nearest fast-food restaurant and began trudging toward it like a blood-thristy zombie.

"We'll meet up with you there, Joey," Yami called, taking your hand and leading you to your own home.

Taken by Yami's sudden movements, you finally called back, "And save us some!"

**********

"You have your key with you, right?" Yami teased as you both climbed up the last flight of stairs.

"Well, _duh_. Why would I consider coming here if I didn't have the--"

You stopped in mid-sentence (and step) when you saw Marik standing at the door to you and your dad's condo, looking like he was about to knock on your door. It seemed he stopped in mid-knock and turned to see you and Yami coming up the small staircase.

"--keys," you finished dumbly. "Marik? What're you doing here?"

He gave you an innocent look. "Well, I had heard about what happened and I came to see how you were doing."

"How'd you find out about it?" Yami ground out, more than a little suspicious. "We haven't told anyone."

"It seems the news and reporters always get their stories," Marik shrugged his shoulders. "They tried prying the story out of doctors and paramedics, but failed. So they came around here to question for witnesses, but all they got were people who saw Bakura running out of the complex and the ambulances. But you know how nosy people are and how they like to jump to conclusions. If anything, I came here for the straight story."

"Fair enough," you said, sending a glare towards Yami. Not being able to cross his arms, he just turned his head away spitefully.

"I'm actually staying with Yami," you said casually while going to unlock the door. "My dad's been away on a business trip, and with what all happened they invited me over until he comes home."

Opening the door, you let Marik and Yami in and closed the door, flipping on the lights. "Make yourselves at home," you greeted while making your way to the kitchen. "I'll fix some tea or something..."

Yami had seated himself on the couch, and just as Marik went to sit at a stool by the counter, there was a familiar "CLICK" and echoed ringing of the front door locking. Quickly looking up, your breath caught in your throat as you suddenly recognized white hair, and predatorial eyes directed at you...

...Bakura had come to see you again.

***********


	33. Confusing Sides

**********

**Chapter 33:** _Confusing Sides_

*********

Bakura's face turned up into a devilish sneer; it made your skin crawl.

"Well, it seems I have everyone that I've been meaning to see...in one place," Bakura seemed to mesmerize the very air he was speaking into. "This will definitely make my visit much quicker."

Bakura turned toward Yami by the couch and your heart leapt up in your throat, praying he wouldn't do anything else to Yami...

"If it isn't the Pharaoh sporting a battle scar...," he mused. Yami was still in his sling, and he glared at Bakura.

"Bakura, _what_ are you _doing_ here?!" Marik spat viciously.

You could tell by the tone of his voice that his eyes had probably narrowed back to their premiere sharpness (his back was to you, as you were behind the bar-counter).

"Well, _Marik_ ," Bakura began in contempt, coming just a bit closer to him. "I'm surprised you can't tell traitorous actions when you see them."

"What are you talking about?!" Marik demanded in rage. " _Why_ are you here?!"

Bakura glowered, obviously upset that Marik didn't know what he was talking about. "You're the main reason _why_ I'm here," he said in a dangerous voice. "You gave that girl what was promised to me, and I'm here to find out why."

Marik's side had suddenly come to face you, and you saw that he was at a loss for words. His fist clenched tightly as he looked back up to Bakura.

"I don't go back on my words, _tomb-robber_ ," Marik began spitefully. "I was still using the Rod for _my_ plans."

Through the diagonal opening between Marik and Bakura, you saw Yami's face stretch from surprise to deadpan anger; yours had as well. Marik hadn't changed! He had lied to you! And you had believed him, gave him another chance!

You felt betrayed, so much that you had to step in to say something despite the dangerous situation.

"Marik," you said in disbelief. "You _lied_...? You lied to me?!"

Marik sighed irritably as he turned to you. "Look, I meant every word I said to you!"

The resolve and seriousness that his eyes pierced you with made you believe him. But you were now confused...

"But, you just said--"

"I KNOW what I just said!" Marik yelled, making you shrink back a bit at the ferocity of his tone. Then he shook his head and turned back to Bakura, fed-up with all the confusion.

"Look," he began irately. "I gave the Rod to the girl so that I could get close to the Pharaoh. Once I was, I was going to steal it back and kill that _damned_ Pharaoh for all the trouble he's caused me!!"

A knot had formed in your chest. "Marik, you told me that you weren't going to do this anymore!"

Marik spun on his heel heatedly. "I told you, I KNOW WHAT I SAID!!!"

You shrunk back quite visibly after that, and his eyes softened a little once he realized how much he scared you.

"Listen," Marik started passively terse. "That... _damned_ Pharaoh has caused me a lot of pain, and I plan to get my revenge. I don't care if it sits well with you, __(y/n)__ or not, I'm doing it!"

"Killing Yami won't fix your problems!" you argued.

"YES IT WILL!!"

"I DIDN'T COME HERE FOR A SOAP OPERA!!" Bakura roared...and everyone was quiet.

It was tense, dangerous...and besides that, no one knew what to say.

"Wait...," Yami eyed the two in the room. "So if this whole thing was set up...what's happened to Mokuba?"

Bakura sneered in agitation, crossing his arms spitefully.

"Why don't you ask _him_ ," he said in distaste.

You all looked to Marik...

"Don't turn all the blame to _me_ you stupid tomb-robber!" Marik was visibly seething and shaking from anger.

You saw Bakura's face contort in a deadly anger, his jaw clenching. Your stomach went cold, knowing something would happen from that comment.

"I can just kill you right now with your own precious Rod...," Bakura suggested while seeming to pull the Millennium Rod out of nowhere.

"I'd like to see you try," Marik dared in deadpan seriousness, keeping an arrogant stance.

They stood off, glaring at each other (at least, that's what you guessed from where you were standing) with a challenging ferocity. The air was so tense you didn't dare move, for fear that in their anger they'd come after you if they were aware that you were even there.

In a flash, Bakura had lunged at Marik with the unsheathed Rod; it was almost too fast to connect how he had started. Marik poised himself, obviously ready for him.

A second more and you only saw Marik with one of your stools in hand, and Bakura on his back, trying to absorb the shock of the puppeted stool.

"I thought you were better than that, Bakura," Marik quipped in arrogance.

Bakura put a hand to his head, growing in frustration as he went to sit up.

"Stay where you are, Pharaoh!" he barked out. "Or I'll finish what I started with you from the other night..."

You came to see that Yami was trying to make his way to you, but he hadn't gotten past the front door when Bakura caught him.

Yami had stopped dead in his tracks; he didn't look scared. If anything, he looked quite perturbed, but he stayed planted to his spot.

Bakura had gotten up in frustration, brushing himself off, and turned to leave. Just as he did, you saw Marik begin to lay down your stool, breathing a sigh of irritation.

"Marik!" Yami yelled in warning.

Suddenly, you saw the shimmer of something gold and when you looked up you saw Bakura coming at Marik again. Marik fumbled with the stool, scurrying to use it to foil Bakura again, but he never got it in time. Bakura wrenched the stool easily from Marik's hands, swatting him upside the head, followed by a sickening "CRACK" penetrating the air.

You had rushed to the side of the counter, not daring any closer because of your fear of Bakura, but wanting to see if Marik was okay. You saw Marik lying in still silence on your carpeted floor as Bakura towered over him, the stool now tossed aside by your couch.

You saw something move out of the corner of your eye. Turning to see it, you saw Yami waving you over furiously. He was trying to keep quiet so that you could slip past Bakura.

You nodded quickly as you tried to tip-toe and run at the same time. Even though you made no noise, Bakura somehow knew you were trying to escape him and he had snaked out and grabbed your arm, bolting you to the position you were caught in.

"You know, it's rude to leave guests by themselves...," he smirked at you, knowing you had caught the foreshadowing glint in his delighted eyes.

A streak of cold had ran through your mind, freezing any electrical pulses that your brain was sending to any part of your body.

He grinned at you maliciously as he went to raise his free hand, but it didn't come up...

"What the--"

Another sickening "CRACK" filled the air, and Bakura's body had slumped onto you, letting the ragged form of Marik steal your view, another stool in hand.

Realizing what had happened, you convulsively shook Bakura's body off as your back found the wall. Slowly crumpling to the floor, you stared down at Bakura's limp body on your floor.

"Are you...alright...?" you heard Marik ask you in shallow breath.

You nodded unsure-ly as you looked up at him; he had gone back down to his knees, holding himself up with propped arms. You noticed the trickle of blood down one side of his face, never missing the sharp contrast of the blood mangled in his bleach-blonde hair.

"Ma-rik...," you said shakily; your body was taken over by jolt-y tremors. "You're...bleed-ing..."

The sight of Marik's blood running down his face, into his lavender shirt...it was making you nauseous, and you kept wanting to breath in faster, wanting to make the sick feeling go away...

Adrenaline was pumping through your veins, a floppy weight playing in your stomach...

"__(y/n)__," you heard a strong voice approach you in serious concern; it was stern, and commanding, but it was concerned.

You hadn't noticed how much you were shaking until Yami's uninjured hand reached out to you, trying to gather you into a hug.

You reacted slowly to Yami's beckoning, but he eventually got you into a hug, almost feeling claustrophobic at him squeezing you to his chest.

"Just concentrate on my breathing," he told you, moving you out of the line of vision of Marik. He knew you had reacted to seeing his blood. "Calm down..."

Yami was now sitting on the floor, his side to Marik. The lower part of your body was fitfully rested on the carpet with your upper body scrunched to Yami's chest with his one arm keeping you there. Your breathing had evened out to a safe level, but tremors still racked your body; you just couldn't get the thought of blood to go from your mind...

"It's okay," you heard Yami whisper faintly. "Everyone's fine... You're okay..."

You suddenly felt Yami twist, and you heard a muffled, "How are you holding up?"

"I'll be fine," you heard the voice of Marik say, followed by a sharp in take of breath. "At least, until we can find someone to see to this bump on my head..."

"'Ey! What happened hea?!" Then, "...She okay?"

Yami's body twisted again, still keeping you to him.

"I'll explain later," Yami's voice rumbled in his chest. "Joey, if you'd help __(y/n)__, I'll help Marik."

A few moments later you felt someone pulling you away from Yami, and you latched your arms around his waist, starting to quiver in fear again. For some reason, you felt if Yami wasn't near you right now that he'd disappear, and you didn't want that. You could feel his warmth, hear his heart beat...you knew he was alive the way you were with him right now.

"Well... Joey could you help Marik, then?"

"Sure, man."

You felt Yami rub your back, as you heard some grunts from Joey and Marik.

"Get the Rod you idiot!"

"'Ey! I don't have t' help ya!"

There was a growl from Marik.

"You comin'...?"

"Just give me a few minutes here," his chest rumbled again.

"You sure she's okay...?"

"Joey, just give me a few minutes with her," his tone came out a little tersely.

You then heard the scrunching of carpet and it faded into the hallway.

Yami pulled you up closer to his face, only succeeding in bringing your shoulders up enough for him to kiss the top of your head in reassurance.

"I'm right here, okay?" he assured you warmly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Still latching your arms around his waist, you looked up to him, still feeling uncertain. His eyes penetrated yours, wanting you to believe that he would always be here with you.

"We need to leave before he wakes up," he told you simply, looking over at where you knew Bakura was at.

You hesitantly looked over as well, despite your fear, and you saw the sweet face of Ryou.

"Ry-Ryou...," you croaked out in a whisper.

"Come on," Yami nudged you with his arm, trying to get you to stand with his arm still around you. You complied slowly, feeling so bad for Ryou...

Yami forced you to walk, trying to get you to look forward. He hugged you closer as you walked out of the door, Joey shutting it behind you guys.

**********


	34. You've Been Had!

**********

**Chapter 34:** _You've Been Had!_

**********

As soon as you, Yami, Joey, and Marik had gotten back to the game shop, you had instantly broken down into tears. You really couldn't explain why yourself, but you knew it had to be something about your reaction to seeing Marik's blood.

Tea, Tristan, Yugi, and Grandpa were already back and had been waiting for you all to return, and not fifteen seconds into questions was when you broke down.

Everyone had proceeded to swarm you with worry (namely Tea, Tristan, and Yugi because they hadn't seen you all day and was wondering what was causing it), but it just made you cry even harder. Yami finally took the initiative and led you out of the swarming group and upstairs to his room, sensing that you needed some privacy to let it all out.

Yami had gently led you over to his bed and had you take a seat as he quickly went to shut the door, trying to keep as much privacy as possible.

You were slightly bent over, your elbows propped up by your knees and your palms buried into your eyes; it was a futile attempt at stopping the tears from leaking out. You felt so vulnerable right now, even in front of Yami, and the darkness of your covered eyes was so inviting at the moment...

"What's wrong?" Yami prodded while taking a seat to your right. "Why did you start crying so suddenly?"

"I dunno...," your emotions welled up again in your throat, and your eyes felt a warm liquid drowning them. "I just..."

You couldn't help but let some sobs rack your body again, letting your hands fall from your eyes.

Yami gathered you up to his chest with his good arm, resting his chin on the top of your head; it was crouched underneath. "Shhhhh..."

You hadn't noticed how cold you felt, like something was sucking the warmth from your body...

Yami was rubbing your arm affectionately, letting you know that everything was fine. Something about the way he was holding you was making you calm down, your cheeks now cold from semi-dried tears.

Yami felt so warm; like you were suddenly wrapped in a warm blanket. It was like he was chasing away that cold feeling that had enveloped you earlier. Your nerves were relaxing, and you felt a hard-pressed fatigue start to take it's control over your body. Your head was starting to feel fuzzy, and you just wanted to sleep...

You had melted into Yami's embrace, not doubting that it was the safest place you could possibly be at the moment.

"Yami...," you called drearily from your fuzzy conscious.

He answered with a deep-throated, "Hm?"

You released a heavy sigh, letting all those nerve-wracking emotions drain out of you in it.

"Can we... Can we just stay, like this, for a little while...?" your voice was drifting very lowly, like you were falling asleep...sitting straight up in Yami's arms!

"Of course," he answered you light-heartedly. "Come on..."

Yami had risen from where he sat, letting you go and pulling away the covers of his bed. You being more than a little fuzzy asked, "What...?"

He grinned at you. "I know you're tired. Come on."

Yami nudged his head at the pillow, still glinting knowingly at you.

Instead of feeling special, a cold feeling enveloped you again, your brows furrowing in deep concern. "But you're...not going to leave...are you?" you managed in fearful meekness.

Yami gave a suspiciously bewildered gaze, taking a moment before answering you. "I told you I'd stay..."

You gave a weak smile; you were so tired from what all had happened. All you could function was the very inviting pillow and lying down on it. Sluggishly, you made your way over, Yami following in after you. He was sitting up, clearly intent on leaving you later (probably when you fell out, you assumed). Pulling up the covers, he nudged you closer to his person, letting you rest your head on his chest, reveling in how warm he was making you feel. Your hands were scrunched up close to your chin, resting them on Yami as well.

You fought how fast you were fading into unconscious, wanting to stay awake to make Yami stay with you for as long as you wanted. At least until you felt okay; you were still feeling edgy from the earlier incident. But you felt so tired... And your eyes, so heavy...

You felt so safe and content lying there; sleep was inevitable, especially when your concentration homed in on Yami's breathing.

**********

You were abruptly awoke to some muffled, rather rude pounding of a door.

Apparently, it was morning from what Yami's bedroom window made clear to you, and from what you thought would happen, Yami had left you to sleep undisturbed.

However, it wasn't the door to his bedroom that was being pounded on; it was actually wide open.

Throwing the covers off, you made your way downstairs in bewilderment, looking around for anyone to explain what was going on; it seemed no one was up or something...

"Yami...?" you called as you reached the living room. "Yugi...?"

Suddenly, you noticed that the door to the living room was open as well. Curiosity taking initiative, you headed through, eventually having to go through the game shop as well. Glancing outside of one of the front windows of the shop, you noticed that the pounding had stopped, seeing Yami, Yugi, Marik, and Grandpa outside...

...with Kaiba?!

You pushed open the game shop door in a rude hurry, hearing the bell ring annoyingly as you did. No one turned to you as you came up beside Marik, watching the scene unfold.

"Why are you here, Kaiba?" Yami demanded derisively.

"I want your Egyptian God Card, Yami," Kaiba announced proudly, crossing his arms; it made his duel disk very easy to see on his wrist. "And I'm not leaving until I get a duel."

"I'm not dueling you, Kaiba," Yami told him simply.

"Wait," you wondered aloud. "When did Yami get an Egyptian God Card...?"

You heard Marik snort. "My sister gave it to him the night you and Yami went to the museum."

Dropping it into place, you looked back towards the sparring scene between Yami and Kaiba. Kaiba looked about ready to pounce Yami for not accepting the challenge.

"You _will_ duel me!" Kaiba's tone was irate, rolling of of his tongue in a bumpy way.

Yami crossed his arms, effectively shielding off Kaiba's verbal assaults, and turning to his side a bit. "I don't have to duel you Kaiba."

You could tell (even from your distance) that Kaiba's face had slide into a snake-like smirk. "Could it be, _Yami_ , that you're afraid that you'll be beaten by me like last time...?" he mentioned condescendingly. "The look on your face was priceless at Duelist Kingdom; I don't think I'll _ever_ forget it...."

Yami's face contorted in anger, turning to face Kaiba fully after that comment; it was bait, and Yami obviously took it.

"I accept your challenge!" Yami announced heatedly.

"I knew you'd see things my way," Kaiba commented while seeing to the suitcase he had sat down beside him.

Kaiba tossed the extra duel disk to Yami. Yami caught it and proceeded to insert his deck from his belt into the disk. They both activated the hand-held machines, and Yami waited for Kaiba to move.

However, Kaiba only seemed to glare at Yami. After a while of that, Yami seemed to be growing impatient.

"Why are you stalling, Kaiba?" Yami grounded out in contempt. "I have accepted your challenge, which you have so heatedly pressed me on..."

Kaiba stuck his nose up, as if disgusted that Yami was even talking to him.

"Don't mock me, Kaiba!" Yami yelled. "I have accepted this duel, and I plan to get one!"

Kaiba seemed to look past Yami, glaring in the direction. "What the hell are you waiting for?!"

Your brows furrowed in confusion. Why was Kaiba asking Yami that when he was the one Yami was waiting for...or, well...um...

God, this was so confusing.

All you managed was a, "What's going on...?"

But you were hardly able to continue wracking your brain for probable answers when you felt the sleeve of your shirt tug, and you were flying backwards. You were stopped by grips on your arms, and a steady...body?

Looking up, you saw Marik holding you firmly to him; it was unnerving you how close you were to him, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

"Hello, my dear..."

You shivered; his voice was lined with the familiar sound of evil as he eyed you intently.

"It seems the Pharaoh has taken the bait quite willingly, hasn't he?" he asked you.

And everything hit you at once.

Marik had still been stringing you along this whole time...

...and he had done a damn good job at keeping you around his finger.

In a flash, you had tried to rip your wrists free of Marik's grip. "Let go! LET ME GO!!"

You were trying too hard to break free of Marik to notice that everyone had turned to you.

"__(y/n)__!!" you heard Yami's deep voice streak through the air.

"Let her go!" you heard Yugi demand.

"You won't be escaping me this time," Marik said arrogantly, throwing you to the now-appeared Odion. "I'll extract the Signet without fail."

You were flailing around as wildly as you could in Odion's grasp, hoping that maybe he might just slip up, and you could make a run for it.

But all those hopes were dashed out of the window when you felt his fingers pinching the pressure point on the nape of your neck, completely paralyzing you. You gasped out in pain as you instinctively went to your knees, hoping to relieve some of that pain...

"You want her back, Pharaoh...?" Marik toyed with him playfully.

"Don't _test_ me, Marik," Yami warned in deadpan seriousness.

Marik grunted. "Such a tone. I don't know if I should tell you..." He may have been mocking Yami, but his tone was dangerously serious.

"Marik, I _swear_ if you hurt her--"

"I'd keep your mouth shut if I were you, Yami!" Marik spat ferociously. "I could have easily killed her without your noticing. Because, you see, there is a high probability that I can still extract the Signet even after death.

"But I was planning to be a nice guy, and give __(y/n)__ a chance to live since she helped me out and all... But if you keep trying my patience you stupid Pharaoh, I _may_ not be as giving."

Yami just glared at Marik, wishing him dead was clearly evident on his face.

"What do you want?" Yami dropped his head and asked in a defeated tone.

Marik sneered. "That's more like it," he rolled off his tongue seductively. "The Pharaoh reduced to serving his own servant; how befitting of an unworthy heir."

Yami growled.

Marik grinned evilly, obviously enjoying Yami's situation.

"So, Yami, if you wish to get __(y/n)__ back, you will meet me at Kaiba's Dueling Dome tomorrow at dawn," he told him arrogantly. "I just want you to suffer until then."

And with that, Marik proceeded to leave, Odion following with you in his grasp, still keeping you chastised by pressure point. Kaiba had followed you as well; it seemed Yami hadn't been the only one blackmailed.

**********


	35. True Intentions

**********

**Chapter 35:** _True Intentions_

**********

You could feel the recesses of your mind trying to pull you to consciousness, but you were trying to will it not to...

After a while though, you had given up, just letting your eyes open up drearily.

Wait.

What had happened again?

The last thing you remembered was being dragged along by Odion, trying your damnedest to wriggle free and get back to Yami and the others. Eventually though, you thought you remembered Odion striking some part of your neck, causing you to fall out.

...And now you were...somewhere?

Lifting the upper part of your body up by your locked arms, you noticed that you were in some glass box, the bottom being made out of a sleek metal. Parts of it were warm from where you had been laying.

Looking ahead, you saw Mokuba caught in about the same situation that you were in, except very far away from where you were.

And then down below...

Yami and Kaiba! And they had duel disks!

You searched around the now recognizable dome arena, trying to piece something together.

That's when you picked up the sound of someone's voice...Marik.

Your head shifted like lightening to the sound of his voice knowing he _definitely_ had something to do with all this. He was standing at some kind of podium-like, extended platform, which was very high up from where Yami and Kaiba were standing...

But you couldn't help but notice how much higher you were encased in your glass box than where Marik was standing, and your nerves suddenly went on to "fritz".

"Amongst other things, you'll definitely need to be on the look out if you lose," you could practically hear Marik's smirk from where you were.

That was odd.

Weren't you encased in a glass "box"?

You noticed that the "ceiling" wasn't really there, and you really couldn't escape either...unless you planned on jumping out, which would result in you splattered on the dome floor. The box you were in was being held up by some flimsy-looking clamp that extended to the ceiling.

No way of climbing down either...

"...lose, than either __(y/n)__ or Little Mokuba will have a rather _nasty_ fall."

A streak of cold ran through your head, snapping it around to look at Marik in utter horror.

"And since you two are pretty far away," he motioned to Kaiba in some form of gratitude, "thanks to Mr. Kaiba's expertise in seeing this little event to my liking... You _may_ be able to save them from their fall."

Marik paused to let it all soak in.

"But remember, 'close' only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades."

As corny as the line was, their was a sick, sadistic tone about it this time around to it.

You looked to Yami and Kaiba, but was unable to see Yami's expression since his back was to you. But from Kaiba's face, you knew Yami had to be taking these stakes a lot worse.

"Now, if you're done glaring at me, _Yami_ ," Marik pointedly looked to Yami, "You'll recognize that it's time to start this duel. Now go!"

Hesitantly at first, both players launched their duel disks. And from you could tell through the air, the situation was going to turn violently serious. Especially from Kaiba's determined face.

You could faintly see the Life Point count on Yami's duel disk... 8000? Why so much?

You cringed. Knowing Marik, he probably wanted to draw this out as much as possible to get back at Yami...

Kaiba raised a finger, pointing it straight at Yami. "I'll only warn you once, Yami. I'm not losing this duel, and if you think anything otherwise, than you'll be sadly mistaken."

_'Wait!'_ you exclaimed inside your head. _'Couldn't they just both surrender at the same time? Wouldn't that cancel the stakes, and both me and Mokuba could be saved?'_

Yami looked like he was getting ready to argue that point when Marik stepped in again.

Marik "tsked" a few times before speaking, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. "Don't get any ideas of backing out on this, Pharaoh. A surrender means your 'prize' will receive an instant death. If both of you do it, then both will die." His voice went dangerously sharp and low, causing a chill to your spine when you could see he had turned to you. "Understood?"

You managed to pry your fear stricken gaze away from Marik and back to the duel. It seemed Kaiba was going first.

"I summon Goblin Attack Force to the field, and set one card face down," Kaiba sneered evilly, daring Yami to even play against him it seemed.

Yami, however, went right to work after drawing his first card. "I'll play the magic card, Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck." He paused for a moment, glancing over his new cards. Then, "I'll set a monster in defense and set one card face down to end my turn."

You could faintly hear Kaiba's grunt from where you were.

"Playing cautiously against me will get you killed, Yami," Kaiba's voice went a little lower. "Or, really, __(y/n)__."

And that just pushed Yami's somewhat calm exterior to breaking point.

"How can you even _joke_ about this Kaiba?!!" Yami exploded in anger. "Don't you even care about __(y/n)__?!!"

Kaiba immediately went on the defensive...or more of an offensive-defensive.

"I'm not _joking_ about any of this!!" Kaiba roared back to him. "There are some things more important in life to me, and that happens to be my brother! Don't you even SUGGEST that I would _ever_ put anyone else's life above his!!"

Yami was obviously, at a loss for words... But he must have said something because the look on Kaiba's face went shock for a moment before he continued on to his turn, angry determination filling his every move, if not just his face.

"I sacrifice my Goblin Attack Force for Cyber-Tech Alligator!" he growled. "And then I'll activate my face down card...Torrential Tribute! Now we'll start over on our monster zones."

What the _hell_ was Kaiba doing?! Was he purposely trying to lose the duel?! He had nothing to even defend himself because he already normal summoned this turn! But...

In a way...you really, _really_ wanted Yami to win this duel, because...you didn't want to die!

But Mokuba...

You would never wish anything bad upon that kid. He was so sweet...

Dammit...

How did it get to this? You must have done something wrong...somewhere. No one else could have let things get this bad...

Suddenly feeling very cold, you decided to just concentrate on the duel. Wearily, you looked on in regret.

Yami's turn was already over though; he had only set a monster onto the field. Kaiba was now playing his turn.

"I'll set one card face down...and then summon Spear Dragon in attack mode!!" Kaiba flung his card onto the disk. "And I'll attack your pathetic face down card!"

Yami looked to have the same ferocity as Kaiba did, at least from what you could tell. It was hard to decipher what Yami might feeling without looking at his face.

"And I activate the trap card, Magic Cylinder, and throw your attack right back at you, Kaiba!"

Kaiba's life point count was now at 6100.

Kaiba almost physically flinched to where you could see it from where you were; he had obviously not expected that so soon. Without nothing else to do, and being a little shell-shocked at Yami taking the early lead, he ended his turn.

Much to your dismay, Yami didn't do anything this time around, making you very edgy. You had no idea what Yami could possibly be planning, but you did know that Spear Dragon's effect was very dangerous -- the battle damage it caused when an opponent's monster was in defense mode was still taken from their Life points, almost like it was in attack mode.

And that didn't comfort you in the least.

Kaiba set a monster on his side of the field and commenced his attack with Spear Dragon.

"I can still do damage to your Life Points, Yami!" he laughed in triumph.

Yami lost some, taking him down to 7550, but he didn't seem very shaken by it. "That's nice Kaiba, but you just sent my Giant Rat to the graveyard, which means I can special summon a monster from my deck to my side of the field in attack mode! And I summon Giant Soldier of Stone!"

Kaiba folded his arms in arrogance. "A 1300 attack point monster isn't going to save you against me."

Yami straightened as well, in a challenging way. "I know that Kaiba, but since you can't attack anymore, my monster is safe for now. And when I get my monster into defense mode during my turn, you won't be able to attack me with your Spear Dragon."

Kaiba did some kind of reflexive jerk. "You won't win, Yami. You're only fooling yourself with you stalling strategy. And you should've already known that stalling doesn't win against me," he told Yami, quite sure of himself, almost in a mocking way. "I would've thought you already realized that when you lost to me at Duelist Kingdom."

That was an apparent soft spot of Yami's, but he only seemed to carry on the duel as if Kaiba wasn't even there.

"I switch Giant Soldier of Stone to defense mode and place a monster in defense," he said solemnly. "And I'll end my turn by putting one card face down."

Kaiba only acknowledged Yami's actions with arrogance and confidence as he drew his card. "Hmph. Well, what do you know?" he commented cheekily. "I summon my other Spear Dragon in attack mode!"

"And I activate my face down card; Chain Destruction!" Yami announced. "You must remove your other Spear Dragon from the game."

Kaiba was known to carry the limit of a card...especially strong ones like Spear Dragon. So, Kaiba did as so, removing his last Spear Dragon.

"That won't stop me from attacking you," Kaiba told him. "And I attack with both of my Spear Dragons!"

One attacked Yami's face down monster, revealing Penguin Soldier.

"I may not be able to stop your attack, but I can now end your Battle Phase, Kaiba," Yami said darkly. "With Penguin Soldier's effect, I can send two monsters on the field back to their owner's hand. And I'll send both of your Spear Dragon's back!"

Both Spear Dragon's disappeared from the field, Kaiba now holding them in his hand. But he still had one face down monster for his defense...

Yami had dropped down to 6150 for his Life Point count, now only barely in the lead of Kaiba who had 6100.

Kaiba said nothing as he begrudgingly ended his turn. However, Yami did nothing again, which made you even more uneasy. How could he stand there and SKIP turns?! He was just asking for trouble!

Kaiba smirked when he drew his next card...and your stomach went cold. Something bad was going to happen...

"I play the magic card...Raigeki," he announced smugly, "wiping out your last defense, Yami..."

Yami's back went rigid from what you could see.

Kaiba seemed to feed off of Yami's shock, taking the initiative to batter Yami's confidence down. "And I'll summon one of my Spear Dragon's back to my field and attack your Life Points, _directly_!

The Spear Dragon's spear actually attacked Yami...making moan in pain a bit...

...and you couldn't help but feel a tear in your chest.

Yami had just lost the lead by an admirable gap.

**********


	36. Twist No. Three

**********

**Chapter 36:** Twist No. Three

**********

You couldn't help yourself...

You just couldn't help yourself from crying.

You knew Yami had time to turn this duel around, but after Kaiba so shamelessly attacked him like that...it had scared you. A cold streak ran through you so fast, and so cold, that you momentarily went numb before realizing that you had started to cry.

And why was it taking Yami so long to recover?! Was he really hurt?

"You know, Yami," Marik toyed. "If this duel is too much for you...you can always surrender."

Yami seemed to instantly recover, yelling at Marik heatedly.

"I will NEVER surrender!"

After hearing the amount of desperate determination in Yami's voice, you smiled remorsefully, despite your tears.

Yami pointed an incriminating finger at Kaiba, quite pronounced and edgy with renewed vigor, he spoke. "Kaiba, you may have won our last duel with such stakes, but you should be aware that Yugi is not here to stop me from going all out," he warned, ice very evident in his voice. "If need be, I will defeat you."

Kaiba was shaking in anger from what you could gather. Really, it couldn't have been fear, could it?

"You're _lying_!" Kaiba sent back in venom. "You would never do that!"

Yami mocked Kaiba's claim by folding his arms neatly, and shifting his weight to one side. There was something dangerously edgy about his stance and tone.

"Kaiba, if Yugi hadn't stopped me in our last duel, you wouldn't even be _standing here in front of me_ ," his voice wrought more of a morbid mocking tone than warning.

It was completely, stifling, silent for a long time after that. Kaiba continued to shake, or jerk reflexively; whichever fit what he was feeling. Really, you couldn't help but feel scared for Kaiba; you had never seen Yami this determined to win!

After a long moment, Kaiba growled impatiently. "Just get on with the duel and QUIT WASTING MY TIME!!"

Yami gave no sign that Kaiba was bothering him as he drew his card.

"Alright, Kaiba; it's time I turn this duel around!" he announced in confidence. "I use two magic cards; the first, Fissure, takes out your lowest attack monster on your field. Which means goodbye to another of your Spear Dragons."

Kaiba's monster was destroyed on the spot.

"Now, I use Giant Trunade to clear the board of any magic and trap cards!"

Kaiba flinched in his spot, trying to seem as if he saw this coming, but to no avail.

"Next I'll summon Gemini Elf in attack mode and attack your face down card!"

...But Yami hadn't expected this face down card...

"Thanks, Yami," Kaiba commented in evil pleasure. "Since it was the Magician of Faith that went to the graveyard, I can fish out one of my earlier played magic cards." Kaiba shuffled through his graveyard, picking up the only magic card he played in the duel so far, and eyed Yami in a strange way. "I think Raigeki will help my strategy..."

Yami took in a deep breathe before announcing the end of his turn.

"I'll end my turn by setting this card face down," it was strained and hesitant, like a mixture of fear and anger.

Kaiba flashed his usual arrogant smile, "I'll place another card face down, and then play Raigeki! Opening up your Life Points to my last Spear Dragon!"

Yami took another direct attack...filling you with heavy dread. You weren't sure if it was because you REALLY didn't want to die or because of something else...

Yami recovered faster this time as his Life Points went to 2350. A little strained, he announced something to Kaiba. "You've activated my trap card, Kaiba...Back-up Soldier," he slowly regained his stature. "And I'll return Giant Soldier of Stone and Mystic Elf to my hand."

Kaiba held his arrogant stance. "Moves like that will not get you any closer to winning."

Yami didn't say anything (that you could hear) and moved onto his turn. "I set one monster card onto the field and another face down."

Kaiba held his confident stance expertly as he went into his turn. "Just so you know, Yami... Marik gave me a little inside pointer that there was no restrictions to limited card limit in this duel, so... I'll play my other Raigeki I put in the other day."

You watched as Yami's back went rigid for the umpteenth time, but he didn't argue. You thought that Yami knew it would be useless sense Marik was trying to get back at Yami in the first place.

Yami's set monster was wiped from the field without given any recognition as to what it was.

Kaiba's eyes instantly gleamed...you had the ominous feeling that he had planned something...something _very_ well planned. And that made your insides crawl up your throat in desperation.

"Now...," Kaiba's eyes, almost the whole air about him, radiated danger, and even the hairs on your arms stood up from the sinister tone he began with. "I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Cyber-Tech Alligator. Then, I'll sacrifice both of my monsters on the field to bring out my ultimate monster...."

You froze, as you saw Yami jerk involuntarily in realization.

"...My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!" Kaiba laughed in a way only a maniac could admire.

As he stopped abruptly, he said, "Now my superior beast, attack Yami's Life Points directly!!!"

The Blue-eyes on the field opened it's mouth wide, charging it's blast. Suddenly, their was a loud "BURST"ing sound that resonated within the glass of your "cell" and Yami was engulfed in a white light.

"Yami!!" you instantaneously snapped, pressing your hands against the glass.

...But suddenly, the attack was sent back, sending the Blue-Eyes into holographic bits.

Kaiba jerked back, not able to keep from reeling back a few steps. "What?! What happened?!"

Your insides went gleeful, almost being able to jump around (but you contained yourself given the flimsiness of those clamps). You could feel Yami smirk in confidence.

"Nice try, Kaiba," Yami chided. "But your 'superior beast' can not withstand the Mirror Force trap card."

Kaiba was slack-jawed, obviously, not being able to believe that Yami would have that card set, at THAT exact time...

Slowly, gradually, Kaiba's hands fisted in anger, ...hate... You could just imagine the cold, angered look on Kaiba's face.

But he said nothing, he just poutedly looked away, signalling that Yami could move on to his turn again.

Yami ended up quietly setting a card face down, and set a monster card.

Kaiba drew his next card and regained his arrogant smirk, clearly pleased at the card he drew. "I'll activate the magic card, Premature Burial...and bring back my Blue-Eyes!!"

Yami was quick for his rebuke this time. "And I activate the trap card, Lightforce Sword! You must remove a card from your hand for four turns."

Kaiba waved him off with his eyes, putting his nose up in the air. "A minor setback," he said while he removed a card from play. "But so long as my Blue-Eyes is on the field _you_ won't be around for four turns to see it get back to my hand! Attack, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!"

Yami's defense card flipped over, revealing Giant Soldier of Stone, and it was immediately swiped from the field.

The air to your lungs cut off momentarily as you realized that as long as Kaiba had Blue-Eyes out...Yami wouldn't be able to attack, or hardly defend for that matter.

Yami recovered fast, determined to win and drawing his next card, going straight to work after seeing it.

"I play the magic card, Change of Heart," Yami announced, almost mockingly. "And I'll take control of your Blue-Eyes long enough to make a dent in your Life Points!!"

Kaiba pressed a button on his duel disk. "I hate to do this to my own creature," he admitted darkly, " but it's better than seeing it in your hands... Mirror Force!!"

_'Dammit!'_ you cursed, balling your hands fitfully. _'He was SO close!!'_

"Then I'll end my turn by setting a monster on to the field," Yami said quickly, trying to avoid that Kaiba had foiled his plans again.

Kaiba just set a trap card. Obviously, it was something that would defend him for a turn, and if you were an intelligent duelist you would know better than to attack.

Yami set another monster onto his side of the field. Then commenced the rest, "I play the magic card, Monster Reborn. And I bring back your Blue-Eyes White Dragon and attack!"

Kaiba "tsk"ed with his finger, mocking Yami the whole time he spoke. "I thought you would've learned that you can't use my monsters against me... I activate the trap card, Negate Attack!" Then his voice went icey with passion. "You will _never_ harm me with my own monsters, let alone my Blue-Eyes! You're treading into fatal territory, Yami, and you'll pay!"

_'GodDAMMIT!!'_ you cursed heatedly. _'How many times is he going to DO that?!!'_

Yami wasn't going to take the verbal bashing that he had recently been letting him get by with, so he came back with, "You haven't gotten your Blue-Eyes out of my control, Kaiba. As long as I have control of your monster, all of your idle threats are just talk!"

"We'll see about _that_ ," Kaiba glared darkly and drew his card in frustration. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Yami seemed tense, knowing Kaiba has something planned under there, and as he drew his next card he tensed even more, like he was debating about doing something...

...You weren't sure if that was a comforting thing.

Finally, Yami decided, going to flip one of his face down cards over...

"I flip summon Cyber Pod!"

Your insides reeled; that was about the most riskiest move Yami could possibly make at this point in the duel. Hell, even Kaiba for that matter! With Yami only at 2350 Life Points, that move could make or break him...

All three of Yami's monsters were destroyed, and since Kaiba didn't have any, he didn't really suffer. Yami went first at drawing his five cards, immediately getting a four-star monster; Alpha the Magnet Warrior, which was summoned in attack mode.

...But the most uncomforting thing was that the rest of the cards he drew, he didn't summon anymore monster cards which meant he either got seven and up level monsters or trap and spell cards he couldn't use.

"You've activated my trap card, Yami," Kaiba announced suddenly. "I activate Ring of Destruction, taking out your only monster and using it's attack points as a deduction from both of our Life Points."

Yami was now at 950...with Kaiba at 3900.

You looked on as you were unable to feel anything...

Through Kaiba's five-card pick up, he had gotten a Goblin Attack Force and a Vorse Raider onto his side of the field...

You suddenly felt detached from your actual body, somehow sensing that THAT was not a good thing...

Yami didn't move, nor did it look like he was saying anything.

"If you're done...?" Kaiba nudged in a dark, mocking tone.

You strained to see Yami faintly nod. Then Kaiba commenced with his turn.

"I set one card face down...," he began in low condescension. "And then I'll sacrifice both of my monsters for my _other_ Blue-Eyes and attack!!"

You looked on in utter horror as you realized Yami had nothing on his board...nothing to block, and nothing to counter...

...you were going to die.

You watched as Yami took on a brutal assault from Kaiba's dragon as the last of his Life Points went down to zero...

Suddenly seized by and icy, tingly feeling of edginess in your stomach, you directed your eyes to the "floor" of the glass box you where in, just waiting in immense apprehension of when it was going to go...

Without registering that the bottom to the box had flung open violently, you were already gaining speed, and closing distance to the dome floor at the bottom. You faintly registered that you had automatically screamed once your body commenced it's free fall...

...But it slowly died down to nothing as a strange warmth racked your body, almost making you go into a silent shock. Your head began to swim in the warmth, with you barely noticing there was a faint glow about your body.

But it began to drown as the warm sensation violently left your body, leaving it stone cold as little black dots cautiously invaded your eyes.

You could still feel your body falling...knowing it was coming closer to the ground...

That is, until you abruptly came to a stop, feeling your insides give a lurch at the inertia that had to be calmed. It made your head hurt to a point, finally letting the black dots invade your vision.

**********

Yami went slack-jawed as he eyed who had been able to reach you...

In fact, it was safe to assume that all the inhabitants of the room had pretty much the same reaction, even Marik.

You were laying limply in his arms, and he was clutching you to him in his black-clad outfit. His face looked bored, if not an ominous foretelling of danger, as his bleached, but very spiky locks swayed a bit in their gravity-defying way as he turned his head to look at Marik on the high platform.

Marik physically recoiled more than a few steps, an obvious look of horror on his face, raising his hands to shield his eyes from this guy...

...and he spoke in a dangerously low, cold, and warning tone:

"You have made a _grave_ mistake, Hikari."

**********


	37. Malik's Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Malik" is used to denote Yami Marik.

**********

**Chapter 37:** _Malik's Plans_

**********

"You have made a _grave_ mistake, Hikari."

It was dead silent in the room.

No one moved.

And no one seemed to breathe.

Malik turned to where Yami and Kaiba stood grounded to their positions on the dome floor, and he peered down at you, unconscious in his arms.

"You were going to kill her," Malik stated in a dead tone, then raising his head back up to where Marik stood, scrunching his face in a chilling glare of anger. "As much as I commend your efforts, _Hikari_ , I cannot tell you how _stupid_ it really was."

Yami and Marik were dumbfounded; they were SURE they had gotten rid of him LAST time!

But here he was, standing there plain as day, and holding you no less.

"Who ARE you?!" Kaiba demanded. "I've had enough of this run-around, and I _demand_ some straight answers!"

Malik turned to him quickly, keeping his chilling glare. "I'm sure you do, Seto Kaiba," Kaiba's head lurched in recoil at his tone and glare, keeping his mouth shut.

Yami tried to move again from his spot, but to no avail. It seemed Marik was clearly intent on having you killed since he also activated some mechanical "leg-grabber" hidden in the floor. And from what Yami could gather, Kaiba was stuck too. Obviously, Marik had set them to activate once someone lost the duel...

"But we got rid of you!" Yami told him bravely (even though his face looked thoroughly confused). "The Signet purified you; you shouldn't even be here!"

Malik sneered arrogantly, taking it more as an insult as he walked to the middle of Yami and Kaiba, setting you down in the middle.

"Au contraire, Pharaoh," his voice was laced with mockingly malignant undertones. "You can't get rid of me that easily...

"You see, when this girl 'purified' me, there was no way her body could withstand doing the whole job at once," Malik looked on at you in a disgusted manner. "She would have died right then if the Signet hadn't have seen this."

Yami kept his eyes on him warily, making sure that Malik wasn't trying to lead his attention away from you so he could...harm you in anyway. But it was hard to not pay full attention since he was the only one who seemed to know WHY he was still here.

"Wait...the Signet...is alive?" Yami questioned aloud.

Malik laughed; a little chuckle at first, but then it radiated into a booming echo before he abruptly stopped.

"You mean you don't know?" Malik asked rhetorically. "And you call yourself Pharaoh..."

Yami cringed at the insult as he bit his lip. He knew that provoking Malik was a bad thing...

"The Signet is the actual 'Eye of Horus,' and so it receives 'food'," he explained, but by looking around he knew he had lost everyone in the room. He sighed in frustration.

"Since you all are dumb of the Ancient customs, I'll say it like this: it's a receptor of its host's six senses," he tried again. "So, whatever the state of this girl affects the Signet."

Kaiba huffed a little loudly, wanting everyone's attention. "Who the hell cares...?" he snorted in annoyance. "You can't expect _me_ to believe all of this hocus-pocus that you're all obviously making up!"

"I'M not expecting you to believe it!" Malik snapped calmly yet quickly, his chest a little upheaved from the exertion. "But it doesn't matter if you do or not, _Kaiba_ , but if you don't shut your mouth this instant, I'll have your brother die a very painful death!"

Kaiba instantly let go of his rage once Malik mentioned his little brother, but instead of seeming chastitized, he tried, menacingly, "Don't you _dare_ lay a finger on him!"

Yami shook his head at Kaiba's antics, trying to continue to probe Malik for some answers to his strange appearance. "But this doesn't make any sense," Yami said aloud. "You're speaking of the Signet as it's own... If that's true, then, how does __(y/n)__ affect it?"

Malik smirked; feeling much better now that the attention was on him. "This is where my Hikari made a miscalculation...

"Because the girl couldn't purify me all at once, she had to do it in intervals...which ultimately could only be set by her own body and what would be the least taxing on her," he explained slowly, watching Kaiba's contorted face of anger in amusement. "In other words...this girl became the Signet."

Yami stood there, figuratively frozen to his place before reacting with a, "WHAT?!"

Malik smirked maliciously, leering at your unconscious body. "Really, Yami. Don't you know a conclusion when you see it?" he jeered. "I'm done answering questions, and I'm ready to begin my plan..."

Malik had commenced moving even closer to you than he already was; in his "lecture" he had ended up moving away from where he set you down on the floor.

In a flash, Yami took out his dueling deck from his disk, deactivating everything from it, and throwing it at Malik with his opposite hand, with everything he had in desperation. "Don't touch her!!"

"Hey! What the _hell_ do you think you're doing, Yami?!" Kaiba spat indignantly.

Malik reacted a little late, being caught up in whatever Kaiba was getting at. The disk ended up hitting him in his shoulder making him loose his balance...and fall over your body.

Yami took his chance and drew in his soul, letting it's power draw outward as well...

**********

Yami opened his eyes, looking around the room, checking to see where he was.

There were stone staircases going every which way imaginable, with just as many doors.

Yep. He was definitely in his soul room.

**********


	38. Shadow Game

*********

**Chapter 38:** _Shadow Game_

**********

Yami recognized the non-committal staircases right away; it meant he was inside the Millennium Puzzle, and also the expansive part of his soul room.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that the others had made it in...

See, when Yami had thrown his duel disk at Malik, he had made it more of a distraction than an actual attack. He had used it for the distraction so that he could activate the powers of his Millennium Puzzle. He had wanted to take you, Malik, and himself into the Puzzle so that he could buy himself more time.

Usually, Yami would be sent directly to his soul room, but he bid his Puzzle to send you to his soul room.

His plan was simple enough; stop Malik from basically destroying the world, but to do that he needed him on his own turf, where he could be calling the shots.

But first he needed to find Malik to set his plan in motion...

...if the first part of his plan had actually worked and brought you and Malik there with him.

Unfortunately, there was no real way of Yami to _know_ if any of you were there, unless he somehow came in con--

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, _PHARAOH_?!!"

Yami swung around, almost letting his surprise show, to see a very angry (and maniacal-looking) Malik on an upside down staircase. At least, it was upside down to Yami from where he was.

Malik was seething in rage, having to breathe quite deeply to just keep from going insane with anger.

Yami smirked. "It doesn't matter; I propose a Shadow Game."

Malik edged his toes on the step he was on, trying to get his point across by closing millimeters of distance between him and Yami as he spoke, "YOU WILL PROPOSE _NOTHING_ UNTIL I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!!" he yelled in bone-rattling command. "NOW, WHERE IS THE GIRL?!"

Yami shifted his stance to favor his right left, folding his arms across his chest in neat arrogance. "You're hardly in any position to make demands," he told him solemnly. "I won't tell you anything unless you hear me out."

Yami closed his eyes in thought, waiting for Malik's anger to die down. Obviously, he was upset because he had taken him to a place where his "magic" (if he had any) or his plans were at a disadvantage.

"YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE THE GIRL IS RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL KILL YOU _RIGHT NOW_!!"

"You kill me and you'll be stuck here forever Malik," Yami snapped back quickly at the threat, glaring at the other yami. "You are confined to the walls of my Millennium Puzzle until I say so," he paused to let words sink in. "Now, will you accept my Shadow Game?"

It was hard to miss Malik breathe a few times to calm himself. However, it was almost foreboding how fast he did calm down...

"Before I do accept," Malik began in a smirkful, and devious tone. "I want to know the parameters; what kind of game will it be?"

Yami's chest welled a little in pride, but kept it in check as he hadn't won anything yet.

"We can start where we stand," Yami started in a bargaining tone. "The game is simple; __(y/n)__ is in one of the rooms of the Puzzle. Whoever finds her can keep her, and the loser must hault his ambitions..."

"That's a little boring, don't you think, Pharaoh?" Malik cut him off abruptly, with contempt lining his voice. "Why not put our own lives at stake as well? It'll make for a more interesting hunt..."

Yami grew a little irritated at his interruption. "This is _not_ a hunt, Malik, and I won't have you degrade it as such."

Malik snorted. "Then I guess I won't be playing your game..."

Yami's fists clenched in frustration. _'Dammit! This isn't working out the way I wanted it too... I try to get the upper hand and he somehow still gets what he wants.'_

Yami gave a sigh (to himself). "Alright, Malik. What did you have in mind?"

He chuckled a bit, making Yami's anger almost boil over. "What a good little Pharaoh...," he grinned largely when he could almost see Yami shake with anger. "My stakes are simple; the winner gets to kill the loser when this is all over."

_'Malik only added that because he thinks he's going to win,'_ Yami concluded. _'But he doesn't know where my soul room is...'_

"I agree to your terms, Malik," Yami announced. "And if you have no further details to sort with me, we can begin the game."

"It wouldn't matter if I sorted them or not, Pharaoh," Malik told him cockily. "I already know of the details you're not telling me, but it doesn't matter because since I was nurtured by the Signet I am in-tuned to where it lies as of this moment."

Yami's body had gone rigid without his even knowing, and a whole slew of other questions raced through his mind. But he was so taken that Malik could already possibly know where you were that he couldn't really say anything...

Malik gave a toothy grin, showing that he was the dominant one now. "Speechless, Pharaoh...?" Malik jeered. "You should be... But since you so willingly fell into _my_ 'trap,' I think I'll share my story with you.

"You see, I was born from anger, but I am fed by fear," he said darkly, giving the air a thickness to it that was making Yami's stomach lurch. "I was steadily being purified by the girl until your recent incident with Bakura..."

Malik teetered that last comment on purpose to let Yami connect the pieces for himself.

_'Her leg... The purification was working when it was hurting her,'_ Yami concluded logically in surprise. _'But she never complained of it hurting her after I was attacked by Bakura...'_

"...And I have to say Yami," Malik brought him out of his thoughts, "that the degree of fear I fed off of that girl was a _real_ treat for me."

Yami could almost fell his skin burn from the boiling blood underneath. He clenched his fists until the tops of his hands where white, and then he raised a hand, pointing an incriminating finger at the slime in front of him. "I _swear_ Malik, if I come across you in my search, you will wish for mercy so badly that the gods will here you... But you will not receive it."

Malik laughed in arrogance at Yami's threat. "I'll hold you to it!" and in a flash, Malik was off, setting Yami off to go in another direction to go find you.

_'Hopefully, __(y/n)__ will stay in my soul room...'_

**********

Kaiba had somehow managed to get out of the shackles that he had designed for this duel.

Of course, Kaiba hadn't let Marik know about his self-removing program that he had installed on his side; he wasn't going to be taken for a fool. This was his turf, and Marik had knew nothing about the technology he did.

Kaiba grinned at his own genius.

He was currently in the control room, pressing buttons and such to get Mokuba down from his glass box. As soon as he had, Kaiba rushed out of the room and back down to the ground floor.

"Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed in frightful excitement. He was trying to get out of the box, but he was a little short to do it. "Seto!"

Kaiba had hurried over in a slight jog, catching Mokuba under his arms and letting Mokuba initiate his bear hug. Kaiba kept him held up, letting Mokuba bury his face in his shoulder.

"Is it...is it over, big brother?" Mokuba queried cautiously, not taking his face away from Seto's shoulder.

Kaiba cringed in disgust, quite angered that a certain _someone_ had managed to frighten his brother so badly. "It's okay, Mokuba; it's all over now."

"It's very far from over, Seto Kaiba," said a mysterious and all-knowing voice.

Kaiba shifted his head to the exit doors, noticing a certain black-haired Egyptian had somehow managed to infiltrate his compound...

"What're you doing here?!" Kaiba demanded. "Don't tell me you're here to tell me another one of your fantasies, Ishizu."

Ishizu walked proudly (if not arrogantly) over to where Kaiba stood still holding his brother to him. Mokuba hadn't moved at all, holding onto his brother for dear life. Kaiba noticed that she had that "Millennium Rod" and three duel monster cards in her hand...

"There is a battle being waged inside the Millennium Puzzle as we speak, and you need to help them, Kaiba," Ishizu informed him.

Kaiba sneered at her. "I don't 'need' to do anything. My brother is safe and that means that I'm done here," he told her spitefully. "The rest of this is Yami's business..."

"There is still an evil soul lurking around your compound, and he's after the Millennium Puzzle," Ishizu informed him like it would change his mind.

"Then let him have it," Kaiba said off-handedly as he began to walk away from her. "It's of no concern to me."

Ishizu could feel a stressmark forming on her forehead. "You're the only one who can protect it!" she told him desperately.

Kaiba spun on his heel heatedly, stomping back up to her. " _I'm_ the only one who can protect it?!" he spat in disbelief. "If all your hocus-pocus crap is _true_ , then why can't _you_ protect the damn piece of junk?!"

Ishizu set him a look of warning as he continued to glare at her. "Kaiba, you are the only one capable of saving Yami," she told him stoically, like it was fact. Then she added, "It has been forseen."

"Don't give me that psychic bull," he rolled his eyes, going to head out of his dueling dome for good when Ishizu laid down an offer that more than turned his head.

"I'll give you the God of Obelisk card if you do it Kaiba," Ishizu suggested in determination. She held up the card for him to see.

Kaiba stood slack-jawed for a moment. "How did you get that?! Marik had them taken as collateral before our duel!"

Ishizu pulled out the other two to show him as well. "That, I'm afraid, will remain secret," she said. "However, my offer still stands, Kaiba."

Kaiba grinned. What did she take him for?!

"I want all of them," he announced darkly.

Ishizu's face darkened fiercely at him. "I offered you the God of Obelisk; you will take it or you not get any."

His grin got even wider. "If you don't hand all of them over, I'm not doing your favor."

Ishizu sighed a moment; she was hoping her vision wouldn't have to go in this direction.

"Kaiba, you will accept my offer as such or I'll just give the god cards back to Marik."

He smirked. "You wouldn't dream of doing it," he told her. "You believe so much in your fantasy world that it would threaten whatever outcome you see in that crazy head of yours."

Ishizu grinned deviously, turning her back on Kaiba. "Well, I guess I could always keep them for myself," she nudged. "That would mean that _I_ would have the strongest deck in the world..."

That had struck a nerve in Kaiba, begrudgingly forcing him to accept the offer. Besides, he could always duel her after all of this to get the other two...

"Fine," he grounded out. "I accept your offer."

"Good," Ishizu said, spinning back around to face him. "Now all you'll need to do is beat this evil in a duel; it should give Yami enough time to finish what he's doing."

Kaiba mock-grunted in acknowledgement as he started toward the control panel again.

**********


	39. Brink of Insanity

**********

**Chapter 39:** _Brink of Insanity_

**********

You had woken up...

Well, at least you thought you had woken up; it was just still so damn dark that you hadn't thought you did!

But then you realized that the darkness was actually from whatever place you where in. It looked to be like room of some sorts; you couldn't tell if it was a hallway or not because of how dark everything was.

There were two torches hung at the very far end of the room, and it was illuminating something. Getting up slowly and cautiously, you took some steps closer to realize that it was an ancient-looking tablet hung by chains, and the room seemed to extend further out after it (not like you were going to explore; it looked even creepier from how dark it was).

You observed the tablet curiously, noting that it was only a couple of lines and the rest was blank. It was also in hieroglyphics.

_'Maybe it's like a diary or something...,'_ you thought to yourself.

Now that you had your curiosity filled for what it was worth, you began to look around the room for something else to check out to keep your attention for a while before you figured out where you were. Of course, sifting through darkness wasn't the easiest thing in the world.

Sighing, you just flopped down to the floor again, finally noticing how rough and grainy it was, scratching at your skin; like sand stone.

_'Sand stone...,'_ you murmured to yourself. 'Well, it fits the decor from what I can see...'

...And for some reason, you weren't even worried about being here without any explanation.

**********

Yami tore through the odd, and seemingly nonsensical corridors like no tomorrow.

Ironic thing was, there really might not _be_ a tomorrow for him or you if he didn't find you before Malik.

_'Just let her have enough sense to stay in that room!'_ Yami hoped to himself, turning at another corridor and streaking down it at dizzying speed.

**********

Seto Kaiba glided down the halls of his dueling arena in ease, not seeming to care that there were other people trying to fight for their _lives_ at the moment...

Ishizu had told him to wait in this hallway for who he was supposed to duel.

...And he thought it highly suspicious that she wouldn't tell him the person's name.

In fact, he was growing exponentially fitful the more he thought about not knowing...and having Ishizu get the upper hand on him.

He grunted unappreciatively.

For as many times as Ishizu had ran him around, he was surprised he even said yes to this...or even letting _her_ watch Mokuba. But Mokuba's safety came first, and even if Ishizu was off her rocker more than once, he knew that she _knew_ not to let anything happen to his brother.

...He knew that she could _'forsee'_ what would happen if anything happened to Mokuba.

This was it; the person that Ishizu had "warned" him about... The person he would have to duel to save Yami's hide yet again for the umpteenth time...

And as soon as he saw who it was, anger filled his every limb, almost blinding his vision...

"What the--?!" he snapped in frustration. "BAKURA?!"

**********

You had gotten fed up with waiting on whatever would come for you, if anything ever was...

So you had decided to get up and look around for some kind of exit. After all, if you had gotten into this room, there had to be a way to get out of it, right?

Standing up quickly from your sitting position on the floor...your head collided with something _very_ solid. Tears formed in your eyes as you cursed heatedly at the giant stone tablet hanging just above you.

That's when you heard a skin crawling "CREEEEEEEEAK" resonate through the room, and you could see a rebelliously bright, yet skinny light beam shine it's way to the sandy colored wall opposite of it.

It was odd; for some reason you got the feeling the room felt bad for you being hurt and had opened the door to appease you...

Brushing that strange reasoning aside, you went towards the light source to find that it was a door!

Your stomach seemed to hang on to clouds as you skipped on over and opened it wider...

...But then your face fell when you saw the oddly placed staircases and numerous doors.

Some were upside down, sideways, diagonal, straight ahead, and any other direction that you couldn't think of (or make up)! The question of "where the hell am I?" never crossed your mind because you were so distraught on "which way to go" that the only thought that streaked through your head was "how the _hell_ am I gonna get out of here?!"

Sighing in frustration, you collapsed to your knees, already feeling tired about just _thinking_ of how you'd have to get out of here. But instead of sulking, you decided to stand up with vigor, knowing that you'd get out of this somehow...no matter how strange it seemed.

...And so you set off in your favorite direction of all time; absolutely nowhere.

**********

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Kaiba," Bakura laced his words with malignant undertones; almost sounding amused as he flicked his wrist at Kaiba in a degrading manner.

Kaiba clenched his teeth, making his jaw tighten, as he said in much contempt, "I AM NOT dueling a third-rate duelist like you! Ishizu can forget it!"

" 'Third rate'...?" Bakura's voice dipped dangerously low. Obviously, only Kaiba was arrogant enough to ruffle Bakura's ego the wrong way. He fingered his Millenium Ring in appreciation as he warned, "You're lucky I didn't bring my dueling deck, Kaiba, or I would show you how wrong you are.

"However," he darted his sharp eyes around. "I heard that the Millennium Puzzle was up for grabs. I'm sure you could lead me to it."

If this was under any different circumstances, Kaiba would have lead Bakura right away to where Ishizu was holding the Puzzle. However, even though Kaiba had beat Yami at his own game finally, it hadn't been televised to millions around the world; and that's what was Kaiba's goal to do to Yami: humiliating him like he had done him.

"And I'm sure you can lead yourself out of my Duel Dome just as quickly as you came," Kaiba directed harshly.

Bakura's eyes glinted dangerously, but of course, Kaiba wasn't aware of anything besides being overbearingly arrogant.

"You're a very ungracious host, Kaiba. Perhaps I need to show you the what-for..."

Kaiba only glared at his "intruder," daring him to try anything.

**********

Yami rounded the final corridor that would lead to his soul room, excitement mounting in his stomach, even if you couldn't see it on his face.

He could see the door now; a heavy, metal-covered slab that had the intricate design of the Eye of Horus on it...

...However, when he stopped right in front of it, breathing hard from exertion...he saw that it was open.

Alarms went off in his head, sending haywire signals to his now jerky limbs.

Peaking in, he called out, "__(y/n)__? __(y/n)__, are you here...?"

He waited several more moments longer before having to admit that your curiousity had gotten the best of you.

_'Dammit!'_ he punched the wall next to the door. _'I could have beaten Malik at this moment if she_ just _would have stayed in this room!'_

Breaking him out of thought, he heard the hesitant scuffle of shoes.

_'Wait! That might be her! She couldn't have gotten that far!'_

"__(y/n)__!" he called out, trying to pinpoint where he heard the scuffle. "__(y/n)__!"

**********

"Which way leads out?" you murmured softly to yourself, quite confused and lost. "I wonder if there even is a way to get out..."

Every way you turned there was a different set of upside, sideways, and diagonal staircases, none of which you could pattern and find yourself a way..."out."

Suddenly, you could faintly hear your name being called...and it sounded like...

"Yami?" you tried softly, almost wondering if it really was him.

But then you heard it again, this time it was louder, coming from behind you.

"Yami!" you yelled back in desperation. "I'm over here! Yami!"

Your turned back, running down the staircase you had come up, calling to Yami the whole time you ran to the sound of his voice calling out your name. You took another right, then a left, going up or down...you couldn't tell. You momentarily stopped to make sure you had your bearings correct about going back the way you came.

But this had gotten you confused...and you stood there, looking around in the most disheveled confusion you had ever felt.

You sighed, clearing your head. "Alright, if I came from that way, then I was going to go this way...or, maybe that other way...or... UGH! Okay, I _know_ I came from this way, so I would be going that way...I think...ooooooh! I don't know where to go!"

"__(y/n)__!"

You spun around, searching for Yami, but to no avail. But it sounded so close!

"Yami...?"

"I'm right here," he said, bemused. "Look up."

Sure enough when you looked up, Yami was...upside down.

"What're you...," you cut off that train of thought. "Where ARE we?! How do we get OUT?!"

You heard Yami chuckle.

"...And STOP patronizing me!"

"Just stay there," Yami told you, taking off in some odd direction again. "I'll come to you!"

"Wait, Yami!"

No such luck.

But that's when a devastatingly cold chill ran down your spine. Had the temperature just dropped suddenly...? Shivering violently for a minute or two, you felt a very ominous presence in the air...

_**"Hahahahahahahahaaaaa...."** _

Wait.

That sounded like...!

_**"Well, Pharaoh, it seems I've grown bored of your little game...and I propose a new one... One in which you'll never win, and I'll continue with my plan."** _

Your insides lurched painfully at the ominous hintings of his booming voice, echoing throughout the corridors of... _wherever_ you were.

_**"You'll be re-living an incident that has left... _delicious_ scars on __(y/n)__'s soul..."** _

As he said it, you shivered in disgust...or fear, you didn't know for sure. The walls around you, and the staircases kept blurring into nothing; it reminded you of a fisheye-lens in a way...

_**"Unlike the previous event, however, __(y/n)__ will have to save you,**_ Pharaoh _."_

Suddenly, what were staircases became buildings, complexes...was that the Domino Museum?!

Shaking your head to keep focused, you noticed just one thing different about this re-enactment...

The sky was ominously marbleized in a mixture of scarlet and black.

**********


	40. Crossing into Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note of warning -- intrusive-like thoughts ahead.

**********

**Chapter 40:** _Crossing into Hell_

**********

He stood there and blinked stupidly.

...And he did it for a while because he couldn't figure out why Bakura had suddenly disappeared right in front of his eyes.

As Seto Kaiba started blinking again in bewilderment, an almost evil look of realization dawned upon his face; his mouth went into a knowing smirk, and his eyes glinted in a way only a thorough-bred negotiator could do.

_'Wait, this worked out better than I thought,'_ he mused to himself, bringing a thoughtful hand to rub his chin. _'Since Bakura is gone, I can get the God of Obelisk card with no problem at all. He's definitely not here, and the best thing about it is that I didn't have to waste my time dueling that third-rate crony of Yugi's.'_

"Now," he said aloud in a dramatic whip of his white jacket, over-coat. "To find Ishizu about my prize..."

**********

You stood there, feeling so jittery you could vomit if you willed yourself to.

What were you supposed to be looking for? What was it you were supposed to find?

You knew you were supposed to find Yami, sure...

...But how were you going to find him? Stop whatever Malik was inferring...?

Looking around frantically, you tried to calm yourself by taking a reasonable approach to all this. If the Domino Museum was just over there, like it was in real life, then your house would be just beyond the corner!

Breaking into a dead run, your hurried towards the museum, rounding the familiar corner in adrenaline pumped..."excitement".

But just as you rounded that corner, maybe a little too snugly than what you normally would have, your forearm began to sting painfully. Grinding to a halt, as you backed away from the wall, letting the momentum you built up come to a stop.....

...you saw _him_...

...Bakura...

...with his trademark dagger.

He smirked, looking at his dagger thoughtfully. "It's too bad... You were going too fast for my blade to catch any blood."

You stared down at your forearm, watching the blood drip with quiet furiousness down your arm. Your breathe stopped painfully in your chest as you watched it roll down your arm from the clean gash...to your hand...

Whimpering in a nervous fear, you thought it wasn't your blood.... It couldn't have been! You weren't _good_ enough to bleed...

You wiped furiously and with fervor at the gash, knowing it would go away if you did...

...But it was coming back!

A strangled yelp escaped your lips at an odd angle, making Bakura chuckle at your near-hysterics.

You kept wiping at the cut, knowing it would go away. It just had too!

But as you kept doing it...it seemed like more and more was coming out the more you did it!

"Why won't it go away?!" you screamed in desperation, feeling something warm down your cheeks...your nose becoming stuffy. "This isn't mine! WHY won't it go away?! WHY?!"

Eventually, you had fell to a heap on your knees to the asphalt, but you were so caught up in getting the blood off of your hand that you didn't even notice it.

But you did see how the scarlet had smeared onto your forearm where you had tried to wipe it away. It was starting to dry and cake on your skin, making your stomach lurch in an upheaval; you barely had the restraint to keep yourself from throwing up...

Wait.

Bakura...

...he had caused this blood on your arm!

Looking up in resolution, you saw his face scrunch up a bit in confusion, giving you an odd look as you rose from the ground.

"Make it go away!" you screamed at him, shaking your arm in accusation and anger. "You made the blood appear! Now make it go away!"

As you neared Bakura, he pushed off the wall he was standing at, walking with dominance over to you; it almost would have been intimidating if you weren't trying to get this blood off your arm!

"You've got a lot of nerve, _girl_ , trying to tell me what to do," he snarled dangerously, pushing you back down on the ground and towering over you in the most chastising way. "And for that, I think I'll kill you and continue with my original plan of the Millennium Items."

You heard the "shink" of his dagger...but that's when you heard a strong "Buzz"ing and "whizz"ing noise envelope your ears and a grunt from Bakura as he smacked against something hard; like rubber filled with water hitting brick.

You shivered from a cold feeling over take your body as Bakura struggled to get up...but he seemed to be glaring past you at something...

Whirling around from your "seat" on the ground, your mouth gaped in horror...

"You will _not_ kill the girl, tombrobber."

It...it was...Malik!

Giving some muffled whimpers, you scurried to your feet (your bleeding arm now forgotten), and took off towards your home once your feet stabilized on the asphalt

You didn't get far as one of your legs gave off an almost painful warmth, going "numb" at the same time (like the circulation had been cut off but was now coming back), the feeling causing an imbalance in your equilibrium and tripping forward, only to skid on your side at an odd angle to a stop.

Clutching a hand to your burning thigh, you noticed the strange feeling in your hand to the fabric of your jeans...

Momentarily forgetting your burning leg, you saw that there was a handprint on your leg...a handprint of blood. Your breathe caught again at the sight of it as you connected that your other arm still had blood on it!

You went to start wiping it away again, surely knowing it would be wiped away this time, when a chilling voice ran through your head:

_'You can't escape me, girl. We are one; you are_ my _Eye of Horus.'_

Malik was coming toward you, and every step he took sounded like the "click" of a heel in a giant ballroom inside your head.

You tried to get up, but the more you fought to get back on your feet the more your leg began to burn...like someone was squeezing the circulation out of it. Fear clutched at your nerve endings, making that jittery feeling cascade through your body in nervousness since it had no way of getting out...

But the feeling of fear instantly left as you recognized some familiar black boots in front of you...

Straining a bit, you managed to look up and see those heatedly determined violet eyes and wild hair...

Somehow, you were able to jump to your feet and crush Yami in a life-supporting hug, burying your face in his chest and sobbing uncontrollably for a minute. You felt Yami's arms wrap around you gently, warmly...

"DAMN YOU, YOU STUPID PHARAOH!!!" you heard Malik shriek. "I'LL KILL YOU!! SHE IS _MINE_!!"

"You don't have the power to do so, Malik," Yami said boldly; you could almost feel the glare he was directing at him, as you buried your face deeper into his chest, feeling his voice resonate powerfully.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!!" he ranted again. "THIS IS _MY_ SHADOW GAME!! _I_ HAVE THE POWER HERE, NOT _YOU_!!"

"You _did_ have the power in this Shadow Game, I'll give you that," Yami began smartly. "But you've just lost the _first_ Shadow Game."

"THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!" Malik shouted back, but the fervor in his voice was dying in growing confusion. "I voided the first Shadow Game by creating _mine_!"

"Shadow Games work differently," Yami told him wisely. "They can't be forgotten or 'voided,' as you put it until the game has a winner and loser.

"And since I have 'found' __(y/n)__, I won the first Shadow Game, and the consequences of the first game will happen accordingly," he paused only for effect. "And I believe that our aggreeance was that winner kills the loser..."

Malik hesitated, a long, stifling silence filling the air until he began again.

"You...you can't kill me!" he said desperately. "If you kill me, then you'll kill the girl!"

Yami grunted in delight, knowing a smirk was on his face as you bravely looked at what was going on from Yami's chest...

"Or so you thought," Yami concluded arrogantly. "__(y/n)__ was only the host, and you get your power from the Signet.

"So, in reality, the Signet actually blended with _your_ body, Malik."

"That's...that's... You're WRONG!!"

"No, I'm not," Yami managed dully, then returning to his tactical mood. "You see, the host for an Item such as the Signet would be in a physical body, but for the power of it to actually work, it needed a metaphysical body to supply a starter.

"How do you think you can control it, Malik? Or really, the Signet control you?"

"Then...how was the Signet feeding off of the girl's fear, Pharaoh," he said in such a way like he had proven Yami wrong. "Explain THAT!"

"Malik," Yami started in exasperation. " _You_ were feeding off of her fear...remember? The Signet is it's own living thing, so it needs an environment to nurture it's life, and that's what __(y/n)__ was used for.

"The Signet is only a minor parasite, and it's like a 'Fool's Millennium Item'; it makes those that are malicious think they have power, when it's actually the Item that has control of them.

"And since you separated from __(y/n)__, I can now get rid of you myself."

Malik just stared, but was visibly shaking in anger.

"I'll kill you... ALL of you!!"

Yami gestured you to let go of him, not looking at you, but setting a determined look at where Malik was literally "freaking out". He raised his hand parallel to where Malik stood far from you and him, his palm towards the psychotic yami.

"Malik, the only thing you'll do is die a horribly painful death in the Shadow Realm."

And with that the Millennium Eye flashed brightly on his forehead as more of the dark light protruded from his hand, searching Malik out like a predator. Within the blink of an eye, Malik was gone...no where to be found.

...But then he turned to the still struggling Bakura; it seemed Malik had took a bit of frustration out on him.

"And you," he said with as much acid as before. "You will join him."

It happened more quickly than you remembered from when he had just done it to Malik...and then Bakura was gone as well. In fact, you were so spooked by it that you hadn't noticed that you were now back in the arena that Marik had set up for Kaiba and Yami's duel, but a "woosh" of air had brought attention to your arm again...

...And you had immediately went to your knees trying to wipe away the mostly encrusted blood around the cut. It stung painfully, but the dried blood was flaking off, and you were starting to feel better...

...Until you noticed that the bigger encrusted part had began to throb and bleed again. You whimpered pathetically when you saw the blood was coming again, and you just tried to wipe it away, but _harder_ this time...

But someone had grabbed your hands with authoritarian force, keeping you from wiping away the blood.

"You _have_ to stop this!" Yami commanded, making you feel little. "This isn't my blood, this is _yours_!"

You hesitated, looking back at the blood seeping from your arm. "But...but..."

Yami caught your eyes with his own, not wanting to let go of your hands because he thought you might start wiping at your arm again. "Look," he said, making you stop whatever you were thinking. "What happened...wasn't your fault, I've told you that before. You can't keep blaming yourself for it; you had no control over what happened."

You closed your eyes, feeling tears coming up and that lump in your throat made your voice crack painfully. "Bu-UT.... I... I should...have..."

"Dammit," he cursed before yelling at you, "I _choose_ to protect you! Why can't you see that?!"

You flinched, trying to get away from him, but he held you still, his voice becoming soft. "I'm sorry, I know it bothers you...what happened.

"But you have to promise me that you'll try to make an effort to get over it," he finished with letting you hug him.

"I promise," you hugged him tighter, letting tears trail down your cheeks.

Suddenly, breaking the moment that you and Yami were sharing, Kaiba came stomping into the arena room.

"Ishizu, I know you're here!" Kaiba yelled. "I've checked every other room in the dome, now get out here and give me Obelisk back! I've done what you asked, now give it to me! It's rightfully mine anyway!"

Ishizu finally came out from the control room, Millennium Puzzle in hand with he Rod...and the three God Cards.

...But she walked right past Kaiba, paying him no attention until she came to Yami and gave him his Puzzle back, as well as the Rod...

...and much to Kaiba's dismay...

...She gave Yami the God Cards.

All three of them.

In his hands.

Not Kaiba.

...

"ISHIZU!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Kaiba," she said tersely, spinning on her heel in a calm heat. "You did not defeat Bakura like I instructed you to do. Our agreement was that you would defeat Bakura _in a duel_ and I would give you the God of Obelisk card.

"However, Malik took Bakura into the Puzzle, where _Yami_ , not you, defeated both of them," Ishizu concluded. "Yami is the now the rightful owner of the God cards."

Kaiba smirked, still yelling in dangerous tones. "That's it... Yami, we're dueling right now! I will defeat you in a duel and rightfully claim the God cards as my own!"

Yami looked at him dully. "Kaiba, I'm not dueling you, and there's nothing that you can use to make me this time either."

Kaiba growled, knowing that he had nothing to use...

...so he just stomped out the door like a child, mumbling something about going to see "that fruit Pegasus".

You and Yami looked at each other and started laughing your heads off at the awkwardness of what just happened.

**********


End file.
